This bill is from the 39th Parliament, 1st session, which ended in October 2007.
Jim Flaherty Conservative
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill.
Part 1 of this enactment mainly implements proposed measures relating to the Goods and Services Tax and Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST). Part 2 contains measures relating to the Excise Act, 2001 and other Acts with respect to the taxation of tobacco, spirits and wine. Finally, Part 3 contains measures relating to the Air Travellers Security Charge.
The GST/HST measures, contained in Part 1 of this enactment, are principally aimed at improving the operation and fairness of the GST/HST in the affected areas and ensuring that the legislation accords with the policy intent. In some cases, adjustments have been made to the legislation as originally proposed in response to representations from the tax and business communities.
The principal GST/HST measures are as follows:
(1) Health: confirms the GST/HST exemption for speech-language pathology services; exempts health-related services rendered in the practise of the profession of social work; zero-rates sales and importations of a blood substitute known as plasma expander; restores the zero-rated status of a group of drugs, collectively known as Benzodiazepines; broadens the specially equipped vehicle GST/HST rebate so that this rebate applies to motor vehicles that have been used subsequent to being specially equipped for use by individuals with disabilities.
(2) Charities: ensures that the exemption of supplies by charities of real property under short-term leases and licences extends to any goods supplied together with such real property.
(3) Business Arrangements: provides transitional GST/HST relief on the initial asset transfer by a foreign bank that restructures its Canadian subsidiary into a Canadian branch; removes technical impediments that hinder the use of existing group relief provisions under the GST/HST; simplifies compliance by excluding beverage container deposits that are refundable to the consumer from the GST/HST base; permits an agent to claim a GST/HST deduction for bad debts, and to claim adjustments or refunds of tax, in respect of sales made on behalf of a principal where the agent collects and reports tax; extends the existing agent rules under the GST/HST legislation to persons acting only as billing agents for vendors; better accommodates special import arrangements between businesses in certain situations where goods are supplied outside Canada to a Canadian customer; ensures that GST/HST group relief rules cannot be used to exempt from GST/HST otherwise taxable clearing services that are provided by a group member to a closely related financial institution who will then re-supply those services on an exempt basis to a third-party purchaser outside the group; clarifies the treatment of the right to use certain types of amusement or entertainment devices, such as the playing of a game, when it is provided through the operation of a mechanical coin-operated device that can accept only a single coin of twenty-five cents or less as the total consideration for the supply; confirms the policy intent and Canada Revenue Agency’s existing practice that no GST/HST or provincial sales taxes on a passenger vehicle are included in calculating the maximum allowable value for input tax credit purposes.
(4) Governments: ensures that a small supplier division of a municipality is treated in the same manner as a municipality that is a small supplier; exempts a supply of a right to file or retrieve a document or information stored in an electronic official registry.
(5) HST-related Rules: as announced by the Government of Nova Scotia, limits the availability of the current Nova Scotia HST New Housing Rebate to first-time homebuyers and reduces the maximum rebate available to $1,500; includes in the Act the draft Specified Motor Vehicle (GST/HST) Regulations, which prescribe the value of a specified motor vehicle for the purposes of calculating the 8% provincial component of the HST in circumstances where the vehicle is brought into a participating province and prescribe the manner in which that tax is required to be paid.
(6) Administration: adds a discretionary power for the Minister of National Revenue to accept late-filed applications for the GST New Housing Rebate and the Nova Scotia HST New Housing Rebate for owner-built homes, where exceptional circumstances have prevented an applicant from meeting the normal filing deadline; adds a discretionary power for the Minister of National Revenue to accept late-filed elections between closely related financial institutions for adjustments that they are required to make for the provincial component of the HST; permits the Minister of National Revenue to exchange GST/HST information with foreign governments that are signatories to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters; adds a discretionary power under the Act for the Chief Statistician of Canada to provide statistical information concerning business activities to the provinces similar to an existing provision in the Income Tax Act.
The measures contained in Part 2 of this enactment amend the Excise Act, 2001 to implement minor refinements that will improve the operation of the Act and more accurately reflect current industry and administrative practices. They also implement related and consequential amendments to the Access to Information Act, the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff and the Excise Tax Act.
The principal measures related to the Excise Act, 2001 are as follows:
(1) Tobacco: extends the requirement to identify the origin of tobacco products to all products, including those for sale at duty-free shops or for export, consistent with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty on tobacco control; clarifies that cigarettes, tobacco sticks, fine-cut tobacco or cigars, but not packaged raw leaf tobacco, may be supplied to the export market or the domestic duty-free market.
(2) Alcohol: authorizes private laboratories, provincial liquor boards and vintners to possess a still or similar equipment and produce spirits for the purpose of analysing substances containing ethyl alcohol without holding a spirits licence; defers the payment of duty by small vintners selling wine on consignment in retail stores operated by an association of vintners until the wine is sold.
(3) Administration: permits the Minister of National Revenue to exchange excise duty information with foreign governments that are signatories to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters; adds a discretionary power under the Act for the Chief Statistician of Canada to provide statistical information concerning business activities to the provinces similar to an existing provision in the Income Tax Act.
The measures pertaining to the Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC), contained in Part 3 of this enactment, include previously announced relief provisions, as well as technical changes to the Air Travellers Security Charge Act.
The principal measures related to the ATSC are as follows:
(1) Relief: relieves, in particular circumstances, the ATSC in respect of air travel sold by resellers or donated by air carriers.
(2) Administration: provides authority for the Governor in Council to add, delete or vary by regulation the schedule of listed airports.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-40s:
Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders
The Acting Speaker Royal Galipeau
I regret to have to interrupt the hon. member. The next time Bill C-40 is before the House, he will have six minutes remaining in the time allotted for questions and comments.
The House resumed from April 25 consideration of the motion that Bill C-40, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act, the Excise Act, 2001 and the Air Travellers Security Charge Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, be read the third time and passed.
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to Bill C-40 at third reading. The bill contains a number of amendments to Canada's sales tax system. It also reflects the goal of our government to improve fairness in our tax system and ensure that it functions smoothly for individuals and businesses alike
However, before getting into the specifics of Bill C-40, I would like to remind hon. members of the key elements of advantage Canada, a plan put into action in budget 2007. The plan has five key advantages.
The first advantage is a tax advantage. We wanted to create new opportunities and choices for people and when we lower taxes we help do that. It helps keep our best and brightest here at home and it attracts the best and brightest from across the world. We always say that Canadians pay too much tax relative to competition so we did something about it.
Since budget 2006, we have reduced taxes. We have decreased the GST. We have increased the basic personal amount of exemption. We have reduced the lowest personal rate of tax. We implemented Canada's employment credit of $1,000 for every employee in the country who pays taxes. We also have other targeted tax relief measures.
Our tax fairness plan went even further for Canada's seniors. We implemented a $1,000 increase in the age credit amount and, most important, we finally, after successive governments, introduced pension splitting for seniors.
Those were significant steps but we needed to go further, and we did in budget 2007.
In budget 2007, Canadians again come out ahead through real tax relief that benefits working families.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The bill is quite specific with regard to the legislation before us with regard to sales taxes. Although I appreciate that the member can speak for a long time about the budget, about seniors and about every other issue, I think it would be important to ask the member to please address the bill itself since, by putting this kind of information on the floor during debate, it really makes it relevant for every other member who follows and that means that every issue he has mentioned could be included in the debate of every other member. I do not think we want to go there.
Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders
The Acting Speaker Royal Galipeau
The hon. member for Mississauga South is thanked for his point of order. The hon. member for St. Catharines was recognized for 20 minutes and I am sure that he will come to the subject at hand soon.
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Mr. Speaker, the member can rest assured that the next part of my speech dives right into that topic.
I would like to remind the member that the next time he stands to speak to any issue that he heed the words and advice that he just gave me because I think they would be outstanding for him to follow as well.
Bill C-40 would also improve our tax advantage. It would improve fairness and efficiency in the sales tax system and would ease compliance in administration for businesses and for government.
The bill consists of three parts. The first pertains to the GST and the harmonized sales tax. The second relates to the taxation of wine, spirits and tobacco. The third concerns the air travellers security charge.
I will begin with the GST. This bill is principally aimed at improving the operations and the fairness of the GST-HST in specific sectors of the economy. The principle behind the measure encompasses important areas for Canadians.
First and foremost is health care. Canadians know that our health system is one of the best and it needs to stay that way. Bill C-40 contains a number of measures to help improve it. It would cement the GST and the HST exemption for speech language pathology services and it would add the services of social workers to the list of services exempt from the GST or the HST. This is consistent with the policy criteria for the inclusion of a particular service on the list of the GST-HST exemption in all provinces.
The criteria is as follows. If a service is covered by the health care plan in a given province, it is exempt in that province. If a service, however, is covered by the health care plan of two or more provinces, it is exempt in every province. If a profession is regulated as a health profession by at least five other provinces, the services of that profession are exempt in all provinces.
The government is also very aware of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. Budget 2006 went above and beyond the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities. In that spirit, Bill C-40 broadens the specially equipped vehicle GST-HST rebate for individuals with disabilities. It also exempts the sale and importation of a blood substitute known as plasma expander. It also restores the tax-free status of a group of drugs commonly used to treat a variety of conditions, such as seizure control, anxiety and alcohol withdrawal.
Those measures illustrate the government's commitment to ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to timely and quality health care.
Canada's new government is committed to reducing taxes for individual Canadians as well as for Canadian businesses.
Budget 2007 reduces the paper burden on small business by 20% by no later than November 2008. It also decreases the frequency of business tax remittance and filing requirements.
These measures are technical in nature so I will not get into the details but I will say that, broadly, they will ease compliance by removing technical impediments and simplifying compliance with the GST-HST legislation.
The second part of Bill C-40 dealing with excise measures relates to tobacco and alcohol products. The bill would amend the Excise Tax Act, 2001 to implement minor refinements that would improve the operation of the act and more accurately reflect current industry and administrative practices.
The bill would also implement related and consequential amendments to the Access to Information Act, the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff and the Excise Tax Act.
The principal measures related to the Excise Tax Act, 2001 are as follows. The first is tobacco. Bill C-40 would extend the requirement to identify the origin of tobacco products to all products, including those for sale at duty-free shops or for export. This is consistent with the framework convention on tobacco control, an international treaty on tobacco control. It also clarifies which tobacco products may be supplied to the export market or the domestic duty-free market. For example, cigarettes, tobacco sticks, fine cut tobacco or cigars may be supplied but it does not include packaged raw leaf tobacco.
I will move on to the spirits licence, which is required to produce alcohol products using a still. There are still some cases where private laboratories, provincial liquor boards and vintners use stills to produce spirits, to analyze substances containing ethyl alcohol.
Bill C-40 would authorize these entities to possess a still without holding a spirits licence. However, to limit possession of non-duty paid spirits, the bill would also require these parties to immediately dispose of those spirits once the analysis is complete. This would also defer payment of duty by certain small vintners selling wine on consignment in retail stores until the wine was actually sold.
As I said, a number of administrative measures are in the bill. One has to do with the exchange of information between Canada and its foreign governments. The bill would permit the Minister of National Revenue to exchange excise duty information with foreign governments that are signatories to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The bill would also add a discretionary power for the chief statistician of Canada to provide statistical information concerning business activities to all the provinces. It is similar to an existing provision that is already in the Income Tax Act.
Third and finally are air travel security charge measures. The bill would relieve the charge in respect of air travel donated by an air carrier to a registered charity that arranges free flights for individuals as part of its charitable purposes. It means that certain charities that arrange free air transportation services for people who cannot otherwise afford the cost of flights for medical care will not have to pay the air travel security charge.
This is a good time to introduce a couple of examples. It includes the flights of a lifetime, such as those provided by the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada and other similar charitable organizations that organize dream trips for physically, mentally and socially challenged children. It is not something new. It is one of which all of us across the country are certainly aware. Now we have eliminated any additional costs that may be incurred by these individuals.
Tax legislation must be applied consistently. Proposed ATSC relief for charitable flights reflects that objective by being consistent with relief from other federal levies provided to registered charities. It is also consistent with other ATSC relief measures such as that provided in respect of air ambulance services.
Summing up, Canada's new government understands that good government and good tax policy go hand in hand. Well focused tax policies are a sign of a government with some vision, and this government is all about that. We are looking ahead and planning for the steps we need to take to build a stronger economy and a more confident Canada. In doing so, together we can make Canada a world leader with a long term focused economic plan not just for today, not just for tomorrow, but for years to come.
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, thank the member on the other side for St. Catharines for keeping his speech to the point, and I am going do it as well.
I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-40, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act, the Excise Act, 2001 and the Air Travellers Security Charge Act and to make related amendments to other Acts. Before I do that, I commend the hon. member for Markham—Unionville for his good work on this file.
As the title suggests, the bill is largely housekeeping. Much of the bill has to do with bringing previous legislation in line with the original policy intent of the government. The rest of the bill involves implementing previously proposed legislation that simply required further study before being drafted.
This is generally done in consultation with affected individuals and industries, which, as I understand, was the procedure followed in this instance. The bill has so far moved through second reading and report stage with the support of all parties. I expect it will continue to do so today.
Bill C-40 has three main components, as the hon. member on the other side mentioned. The first includes new measures related to the goods and services tax and the harmonized sales tax. The second part contains amendments to the Excise Act, 2001 and other acts with respect to the taxation of tobacco, spirits and wine. Finally, the bill contains measures that affect the air travellers security charge.
Let me begin with the first part that deals with the goods and services tax.
A good portion of the bill deals with how health-related services are treated by the GST. We on this side of the House know how important our public health care system is to the lives of everyday Canadians. I am proud to be a member of the party that devised our current 10 year program to strengthen health care. We delivered $42 billion to the provinces to improve services, reduce wait times and ensure that Canadians would get the care they needed. Not only should they get the care they need, but every Canadian, irrespective of where they live, should have the same quality of health care.
While Bill C-40 is not the landmark piece of legislation that our health accord was, it does contain a number of health-related provisions, which will be important to Canadians. For instance, the bill would confirm the GST-HST exemption for speech language pathology services. Speech language pathologists can include occupational therapists, physical therapists, therapist assistants, public health nurses, child psychologists and others. Typically they provide services to young children with communication disorders and adults in rehab centres. I am glad to see the draft GST exemption of these services proposed by the previous government would be implemented through this bill.
The bill also confirms that the sale and importation of blood substitutes, known as plasma expanders, will be zero-rated for GST purposes. A plasma expander is a blood substitute product which is used primarily to maintain circulatory blood volume during surgical procedures or trauma care.
Bill C-40 would also broaden the specially equipped vehicle GST-HST rebate so the rebate would apply to motor vehicles that were used subsequent to being specially equipped for use by the individual with disabilities.
The bill would also affect the harmonized sales tax in Nova Scotia, where the government has called for the provincial tax portion of the homebuyer's rebate to be limited to $1,500. This has been done at the request of the government of Nova Scotia, and there is no reason why any of us should oppose it here.
Some of the other GST related measures in the bill include accommodating special import arrangements between businesses in certain situations where goods are supplied outside Canada to a Canadian customer and simplifying GST compliance burdens by excluding beverage container deposits that are refundable from the GST.
It will ensure that when a charity provides a property to a person or a business under a short term lease, the GST is exempt on any goods supplied with that property.
The second section of the bill deals primarily with excise tax measures surrounding the sale and production of tobacco and alcohol.
The 2005 Liberal budget announced new funding over five years to enhance federal tax compliance and enforcement in the tobacco industry. At that time, we set aside new money for enhanced markings of tobacco. I am glad to see the bill would extend the requirement to identify the origin of tobacco products to all products, including those for sale at the duty-free shop or for export.
Tobacco contraband does not only hurt the government's bottom line, it also hurts communities and can be a source of funds for organized crime. That is why the Liberals allocated $8 million to fight tobacco contraband two years ago.
As a side note, I was very disappointed to see that the government's new budget had absolutely no money to help tobacco farmers transition toward other crops, but that debate is for another time.
Moving on, the bill contains measures that would authorize laboratories to produce alcohol and spirits for the purpose of studying ethanol alcohol without them having to hold a spirits licence.
The third and final part of the bill focuses on the air travellers security charge. It will ensure that air travel seats donated to charities through air carriers are not subject to the air travellers security charge.
I will take a brief moment to revisit the reason that we have the air travellers security charge in Canada.
In the months following 9/11, the previous Liberal government jumped into action with a series of measures to improve public safety, secure our borders and ensure that the lives of Canadians and Canadian businesses could go on with as little disruption to their daily lives as possible. As a result, we strengthened Canada's borders dramatically. We increased security at Canadian airports with as little disruption to passengers as possible. The air travellers security charge was levied to help pay for these upgrades.
While no one particularly enjoys a new tax, I think most Canadians would agree that in February 2002 we did the right thing by instituting the air travellers security charge to help protect Canadians.
As a side note, the current government, which at the time was comprised mostly of the Canadian Alliance Party, voted against the security charge and, in fact, against the creation of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. The Liberals, however, did believe that Canadians would be willing to pay a little more to ensure that the air travel in Canada was as safe as possible. As a result, I am proud to say they are in fact safer.
Furthermore, as airports across Canada purchased and installed new technology and as new security procedures were implemented, the start up costs began to go down. Accordingly the Liberals used their last three budgets to lower the air travellers security charge three times so Canadians would only need to pay what was necessary to ensure their safety on board flights.
As for this particular measure of Bill C-40, reducing barriers and disincentives to charitable giving, such as the travellers security charge on donated seats, is an excellent way to ensure that businesses such as airlines can help charities carry out their good work. I am happy to support this initiative.
In Canada there are currently over 80,000 registered charities, the vast majority of which are honest and hard-working organizations that provide valuable services for Canadians. While I am proud that Canadians give so much of their time and money to charities to make this country and the world a better place, I was dismayed when the current government chose to eliminate the charities advisory committee this past fall.
The committee was comprised of members of the charitable community as well as Canada Revenue Agency employees. Together they worked to ensure that charities were aware of their obligations under the Income Tax Act. They worked to ensure that Canadians could be confident that when they donate their hard-earned money to a charitable cause the bulk of that donation actually goes toward that cause.
More importantly, it was the responsibility of the committee to propose legislative changes to the Department of Finance and Canada Revenue Agency, changes that would make life easier for Canadian charities. The irony here is that it was this committee's job to come up with new ideas such as eliminating the air travellers security charge on airline seats donated to charities, a measure we are now debating in this bill.
What did the government save by eliminating this volunteer-led committee? Essentially, it saved only the cost of travel and hotel accommodation for when the committee members met three or four times a year. It may have been $100,000. I certainly believe the committee's advice was worth that much. I certainly hope that the government will consider reinstating the charities advisory committee.
As I said at the beginning of my remarks, this is a very large and very complex bill. Its contents are largely non-controversial and in some instances are the result of years of consultations. Accordingly, I am happy to support this bill.
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments with respect to the fairness of the tax policy. He is a recently arrived member, so I know that he will not recall some of the debates we have had in this House previously, but I am wondering if he could comment on seeking tax fairness in combination with the northern living allowance.
This is something that happens in some of the rural sectors of our country, but in a seemingly selective way. This bill seems to seek to redress some of the imbalances of the tax system, yet how taxes are applied in some of the more remote or far-flung regions of our country seems to be hit and miss, and it seems to be more politically motivated than it is structurally motivated in regard to changing it to a fairer and more balanced system.
My question is very specific. If the member agrees with the measures in this bill, does he also agree with the concept of taking a basket of goods, let us say, and using that as a measurement for how we allow the northern tax allowance or the rural living allowance to be decided in this country?
A number of my constituents, particularly in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii and some of the more remote communities, get frustrated and confused about why their cost of living is so much higher for transportation to services, hospitals and the like, as well as for just the basic living commodities such as home heating and food. However, a basket of goods is a way to measure where tax allowances should be made in this country rather than having some meandering political line across our country as it is right now.
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague, the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, for putting this question to me, because when we talk about fairness when it comes to taxes, they should be equitable. When we look at the more remote areas, like the north and the rural areas, we have to pay attention.
In fact, I am sure that hon. members will recall that I spoke about the new employees who want to settle in areas like those the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley mentioned. They should be given incentives so they can settle there and be productive members of society. The proper growth would go on.
As I said earlier on health care, irrespective of where Canadians live, they should have the same quality of health care. In the same fashion, irrespective of where Canadians live, they should have equitable taxation fairness so they can make ends meet, as they have different challenges to face in those remote areas. I certainly support that.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, while it is not directly relevant to this bill, I think it would be appropriate to know what the member thinks of the program that was abolished by the Conservative government, the GST rebate for tourists. This has a major impact.
Corrective measures were taken already for outfitters and conventions. Would it not have been appropriate for similar measures to be adopted for duty-free shops, to avoid the problem being experienced now, which creates a major disadvantage for those shops, even if it might have meant adopting a private system as other countries have done?
Would it not be appropriate for the government to act quickly? Why has it not done so in the case of Bill C-40?
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with the hon. member from the Bloc, because my riding is also a border riding adjoining the U.S. I am from British Columbia. The 2010 Olympic Games are coming to B.C.
Tourism is a key industry in British Columbia. I am sure it is also key in Quebec and from coast to coast to coast as well. As a British Columbia MP, I strongly support this member's concept and would ask the government to reinstate the GST rebate for tourism so the tourism industry can survive.
In fact, under the previous Liberal government, we moved the tourism office to British Columbia to promote tourism. We have to be prepared for the 2010 Olympics.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to rise today to speak to Bill C-40 on behalf of the Bloc Québécois. With our research staff and those responsible for this issue, we conducted a review of this bill and, all in all, we have found very little to criticize. A lot of people, in Quebec among other places, will be pleased with many of the measures being introduced. I would like to address the first one, which is to make some medical services exempt from tax, thereby facilitating access to such services.
I remember that physiotherapists came to me a few years ago. They told me that it was important to allow these types of services to be exempt from tax. Out of need or because of their insurance, many people who could not afford to wait for public health care wanted to go see a physiotherapist after a car accident or an occupational accident. Systematically, these people had to pay tax on those services.
Then, under a ways and means motion, the previous government considered the possibility of looking at which types of medical services could be made exempt from tax from year to year.
This assessment had to be done every year. So, every year, the government determined whether it had properly identified those services that should be taxed and those that should be exempt from tax. It would ask itself, for example, if it was appropriate not to tax physiotherapy. The following year, around budget time, the word would often go around that physiotherapy would be taxed.
Physiotherapists visited MPs at their offices. I remember fighting with them for their services not to be taxed. Eventually, the government of the day decided not to tax them. It will be much better, however, to have legislation on that. This will avoid having this annual debate about what to tax, what to exempt from tax and what should be kept on the list of health products that should be exempt from tax.
This will take us closer to a standard of services that all recipients can find relatively interesting. It is not an easy thing to do when your health or physical well-being is affected to go see a health professional in an emergency or because you are required to under your insurance plan. In such cases, one has to pay not only the fee for services, but also the GST on that fee. It think it is completely worthwhile to have a list.
This is something we see quite often with speech-language pathology. Bill C-40 refers specifically to speech-language pathology. I would point out that problems with hearing and pronunciation are becoming increasingly common in our society.
I know parents whose children have speech problems, for example. They are having a very hard time accepting the fact that they have to wait two years to consult someone in the public sector. They often have insurance that allows them to turn to private clinics. When these parents go to consult a speech-language pathologist, it is much the same as with physiotherapy, which I mentioned earlier. These people have to pay for the professional services and then pay tax on top of that.
Since speech problems are on the increase, it is important, when people have no choice but to consult the private sector, that they not pay an additional tax.
It is somewhat similar to access to surgery. The taxes can be deducted. There are situations in which waiting is not an option. It should be recognized that waiting may not be an option in the case of physiotherapy and speech-language pathology services, and people should not have to pay taxes on top of the cost of professional services.
Social services are another part of medical services.
Many people these days want to consult social workers to help resolve children's behavioural problems or attention deficit problems.
As the father of a daughter myself, if she had required such services at age six or seven, I would not have wanted her to have to wait two years before meeting with a specialist in the field of social work, while she was having integration problems or any other such problems at school. Thus, I feel it is important to recognize parents' financial efforts and not make them pay additional taxes. I think that would be the right approach.
Furthermore, there is also a tax burden for charities. As a former unionist, I worked closely with charitable organizations. People in these organizations were close to the union movement. We defended a shared cause, that is, a more social approach within our society, a more equitable and fair approach. These people work year round for excellent causes. These causes might involve church groups or any type of organization that is a registered charity. In my view, the bill's new provision will be advantageous for them.
For example, a business owner who rents a shop in downtown Saint-Jean or elsewhere in Canada can deduct both the tax and the rent from his income taxes. If an owner gives space worth $10,000 in one of his buildings to a charity group, he can forego the rent and deduct it from his taxes. I think that really helps people who are supporting an important social cause.
I mentioned churches, but that might not exactly apply because they often own the premises they need to carry out their activities. This would apply more to the many registered charitable organizations that should have the opportunity to use premises for a minimal cost, that is, rent-free with no obligation to pay the rent at the end of the year. Often, the cost of rent can force an organization to cut services.
For example, if charitable organizations are allowed to use space for free, they can provide services to the public. These services are very important; nowadays, many people cannot get by without them.
We also really like the measure that supports small vintners. In fact, this affects me personally. As the member for Saint-Jean, I have to say that in Quebec, wine producers have been having a lot of problems lately. There have been some issues with the Société des alcools du Québec. It made no sense that liquor stores in Quebec were stocked with wines from all over the world, but not wines from Quebec. When I shop at the LCBO, Ontario wines are on every shelf, as are British Columbia wines. In Quebec, there were problems with that. People had to get their wine directly from the producers. Then they were hit with an excise tax, which made them less competitive. Wine production is becoming more and more competitive. Now, even the French acknowledge that they are in a very competitive environment. Wines come from all over. Stores now carry wines from South Africa, all over Europe and around the world.
Since this is a very competitive market, we should give a helping hand to the vintners. We should tell them that they no longer have to pay the excise tax. This would give them the latitude to probably offer more affordable prices. I do not think that the producers would put the entire savings from the excise tax in their pockets. I think they would pass on the savings to consumers, thus making these wines more competitive.
We like some other provisions, such as the ones on tobacco.
There are some clarifications on the provisions of the excise tax to better fight against contraband tobacco products. It is about time. We are not the first to think of this, since even the Romans thought to tax luxury goods. In today's society, we consider taxing unhealthy products, such as cigarettes. This is nothing new. Rome thought of it before us. Given all the harmful effects of tobacco, I think it is important to maintain the level of taxation. Smuggling must also be avoided, and I think that the current provisions will ensure that the origin of the tobacco product must be known.
We will have to deal with the fact that on aboriginal reserves, there are many of these little smoke shacks that sell tobacco products without tax, products whose origins are unclear as well. I regularly drive through part of the reserve at the exit of the Mercier bridge. It goes from one side of the border to the other. Some measures in Bill C-40 will make it possible to better control cigarette smuggling. It is not acceptable that some people can get away with this, while the corner store in downtown Saint-Jean must pay the total price. Conditions are not tough enough; all the corner stores must sell cigarettes with prices and taxes indicated, while elsewhere, such as on the reserve, for example, things are different.
Thus, I believe that this measure will not only get a handle on the problem, but will also allow the government to generate some revenue. This is what I mentioned this morning about Bill C-33. When an illegal trade develops and is almost entirely untaxed, it is the government that loses revenues, because some people will buy their tobacco products there instead of at the corner store.
Therefore, we encourage this measure, because it will try to finally put an end to cigarette smuggling and, if we really succeed, it will put more revenues in the coffers of the government, which will be able to spend some on all kinds of services and will be able to improve health or education services, as I mentioned this morning.
The same goes for alcohol. In the bill, some overtures have been made about the objectives. First, it allows provincial liquor boards and vintners to possess a still . This was previous illegal. Personally, I know someone—I will not tell his name—who would give me a bottle of grappa once in a while. He did not sell it to me; this was totally legal, I tell you right now. However, to produce grappa, you must have a still and a licence.
Before, one had to go through many people and many steps, and there were costs associated with these steps. The bill will save the provincial boards all these steps and costs inherent in the purchase of this equipment used to produce and sell alcohol. This legislation will allow people, whether they be wine producers or not, who wish to make grappa or any other type of wine, to do so legally. They will be able to buy these stills.
Moreover, another type of illegal trade will be eliminated. I was personally happy to be given a bottle of wine by this person, but maybe other producers were illegally selling their production and the government was losing out on these revenues. This will allow such companies to operate legally, to obey the law and to provide the government with some revenue.
I would also like to talk about the security surcharge at some airports.
After the events of 9/11, I remember sitting on the legislative committee where senators and MPs discussed a considerable surcharge—based on the number of passengers—to provide all airports with the necessary equipment to fight terrorism.
Now we learn that this charge will be eliminated at certain airports. In my opinion, this will allow airports to avoid being crushed by the weight of this surtax. We note that the La Grande 3 and La Grande 4 airports will no longer be subject to the charge
However, this is offset by the fact that certain airports that were not on the list—the Mont-Tremblant airport in particular—will now be added. There has been a significant increase in passengers at this airport because this part of Quebec is experiencing tremendous growth. Thus, they will be taxed and the charge will be added.
In other words, applying a charge to an airport that is already very popular and that is already making a bit of money, is preferable to applying a charge to all airports. Small airports would have trouble because each time a plane lands, a surtax is charged. Thus, this is significant for the budgets of small airports and we truly approve of this measure.
There are a number of provisions in this bill that we truly like.
Given that I have the time, I would like to go back a bit. Earlier I spoke of speech language pathology, but only with regard to young children who have hearing or speaking impairments. However, this measure will also help individuals who are slightly older.
I believe that many seniors may be receiving treatment for speech-language pathology. For instance, I am thinking of my father who suffered a series of strokes. Rehabilitation is a difficult and often lengthy process because of the long wait times for health care.
People with insurance could afford treatment for speech-language pathology. If they can afford it and decide to pay for it themselves, then why tax them? The situation is a little like that of the young children I was talking about earlier, who have problems speaking or hearing. The same is true of seniors who have the same sort of problem. And these clients are not wealthy. We know the statistics about seniors. Any measures that could help them further would be welcome.
We are still waiting for the federal government to look at seniors' tax returns and pay them the guaranteed income supplement immediately if they qualify. We are still calling for that. However, if they need a speech-language pathologist, we agree that this service should be tax exempt, as the bill provides.
The bill contains only good measures. There may be some things we would like to see taken further, but we believe this is a very good start. There are some measures in the bill that we have wanted to see for a long time, such as the duty on wine. Vintners would talk to me about this regularly. They will be very happy to learn that the Bloc Québécois is supporting this bill.
As I mentioned earlier, on the whole, this bill contains attractive measures not only for airports and vintners, but also for people who need health care services.
We can please all these people, and these measures are along the lines of what we want to see happen. That is why the Bloc Québécois will be very happy to support this bill.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I tend to agree with a number of the points that the member has raised. The bill is about 120-odd pages long and there are numerous provisions enacting a number of changes to improve the operations and fairness of the GST and HST. The member discussed a number of those in his speech.
There is one area where I am not exactly sure whether I fully understand the full impact of the changes, but it has to do with the GST or HST on health. The member talked about the speech language pathology services, but the bill also deals with exempting health related services rendered in the practice of the profession of social work.
I do not know if the member noticed that, but social work is a very broad concept. With regard to the operations in the fairness of the tax, I would be interested to know how far this concept of social work should go and whether or not the bill opens up a new horizon of tax fairness opportunities or maybe assistance particularly in those professions which are probably directed at helping those in most need in our society.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague for his very pertinent remarks.
How far will we open extend the notion of social work? For my part, I considered that it was limited to social workers. Earlier, in my speech, I gave the example of a youth who had problems integrating into his school environment, and whose parents have to wait a long time before being able to meet a social worker. In my opinion, this bill is quite specific in this regard.
Could that be extended to a consultation with a psychologist? I think that more study must be done on this subject. If a child has a problem, if there is no psychologist in his school and if his parents must wait years before getting advice, I would not object to a psychologist seeing this child. However, he is partly right. How far should we extend it? For the time being, I know that speech language pathology is included, as well as social work.
For our part, we had limited that to social workers. It is not negligible. A social worker may not be a psychologist, but a good social worker surely understands the issues of the school environment, among others, and can make a valuable contribution when someone asks for help. We will stay vigilant and we will evaluate the situation as it evolves in order that the extension does not go too far.
I gave the example of the psychologist, and I said I would not be against that. As far as social workers are concerned, that is clearly in the law presently. We shall see if it needs to extend to other professions. For the time being, this is how I interpret the bill.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, I found the speech by the hon. member particularly interesting. Of course, the Bloc will support the bill. However, I would like to draw the member's attention to an addition he certainly noticed.
I refer to the problem the government created when it abolished the GST rebate for tourists. We succeeded in getting some changes to the program to protect, for example, outfitters and big meetings and conventions. However, the duty free shop owners and operators are still making representations.
Since the member is an active member of the border caucus, he must undoubtedly be concerned by the issue, all the more so because there is a big duty free shop in his riding, close to the American border.
I would like to know if he thinks that the government should change the unfair situation in its future bills. If it could be done through bill C-40 it must be possible to do it in the future.