Finance committee  That's correct. Yes.

Finance committee  That's one of the four things we're absolutely asking for. We're asking that if the luxury tax is implemented, we don't have the HST—or GST, in the case of B.C.—placed on top of the luxury tax. That's a very simple calculation that businesses do every single day. They separate the net price from the GST and the PST and so on.

Finance committee  That is our understanding, but there are many places within just a few nautical miles of the Canadian border where people can keep their boats. For instance, in B.C. they can keep their boats in Blaine or Bellingham or Seattle. It's the same thing in Buffalo, New York, and so on.

Finance committee  That's correct, sir.

Finance committee  Yes, there is. That's the National Marine Manufacturers Association. I also have counterparts across Canada in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

Finance committee  Thank you for that. Through the chair, we have had the opportunity to speak with senior staff in the finance department on the implementation of the tax through the consultation process. Quite frankly, there's been very limited feedback or back-and-forth with respect to some of the requests we've made on the implementation of the tax.

Finance committee  To our knowledge, it has not. We did an economic impact assessment ourselves. We delivered it to the finance committee and to the Minister of Finance several months ago, showing that there would be a significant negative impact to jobs and to the economy.

Finance committee  We have not. The date has been moved from April, 2021, to December 31, 2021. We're appreciative of that. We've been asking for a grandfathering of all contracts until the actual implementation of the tax. There are huge delays in delivery dates for vessels. It's up to over two years for some of the boats coming from Europe and elsewhere, through no fault of our dealers, our brokers or our customers.

Finance committee  Thank you, sir.

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely they will. In the case of British Columbia, that money is very transferable. People who can buy vessels will do so in Seattle or in Blaine, or elsewhere south of the border. They'll register their vessels south of the border, and that tax will simply not come into the Canadian government's coffers and those opportunities will not come to Canadian retailers.

Finance committee  Certainly the tax is going to be passed on to consumers, so there's simply no way to avoid that extra 10% not being passed on to consumers, and that's going to make us less competitive with our American counterparts, yes.

Finance committee  Through the chair, we have not. We pointed that out to the ministry of finance; we've had no specific explanation as to why there's going to be a change now to have a tax on tax.

Finance committee  Thanks for that. Through the chair, MP Arnold, it's going to have a devastating impact on boat rentals. In the interior of B.C.—in your area, in the Shuswap area, for example—there are many houseboat charters that have a very limited season to work with. They have to buy new vessels on a regular basis, every couple of years.

Finance committee  Yes, they have. I was just at a boat show in Sidney, B.C., over the weekend. It was the talk on the dock, if you will, that many potential buyers are very hesitant, because, first of all, there are delays, of course, in delivery of vessels—up to two years in some cases, or more—and prices continue to go up because of supply, and then adding a 10% tax to that is really putting a damper on the market.

Finance committee  We're currently surveying our membership to see how many jobs are currently being affected by this proposal. I was just at a boat show in Sidney, B.C., on the island over the weekend, and many of the dealers and brokers were saying they're laying off staff at this point already.