Bill C-50 (Historical)

Budget Implementation Act, 2008

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 26, 2008 and to enact provisions to preserve the fiscal plan set out in that budget

Part 1 enacts a number of income tax measures proposed in the February 26, 2008 Budget. In particular, it
(a) introduces the new Tax-Free Savings Account, effective for the 2009 and subsequent taxation years;
(b) extends by 10 years the maximum number of years during which a Registered Education Savings Plan may be open and accept contributions and provides a six-month grace period for making educational assistance payments, generally effective for the 2008 and subsequent taxation years;
(c) increases the amount of the Northern Residents Deduction, effective for the 2008 and subsequent taxation years;
(d) extends the application of the Medical Expense Tax Credit to certain devices and expenses and better targets the requirement that eligible medications must require a prescription by an eligible medical practitioner, generally effective for the 2008 and subsequent taxation years;
(e) amends the provisions relating to Registered Disability Savings Plans so that the rule forcing the mandatory collapse of a plan be invoked only where the beneficiary’s condition has factually improved to the extent that the beneficiary no longer qualifies for the disability tax credit, effective for the 2008 and subsequent taxation years;
(f) extends by one year the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit;
(g) extends the capital gains tax exemption for certain gifts of listed securities to also apply in respect of certain exchangeable shares and partnership interests, effective for gifts made on or after February 26, 2008;
(h) adjusts the rate of the Dividend Tax Credit to reflect corporate income tax rate reductions, beginning in 2010;
(i) increases the benefits available under the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program, generally effective for taxation years that end on or after February 26, 2008;
(j) amends the penalty for failures to remit source deductions when due in order to better reflect the degree to which the remittances are late, and excuses early remittances from the mandatory financial institution remittance rules, effective for remittances due on or after February 26, 2008;
(k) reduces the paper burden associated with dispositions by non-residents of certain treaty-protected property, effective for dispositions that occur after 2008;
(l) ensures that the enhanced tax incentive for Donations of Medicines is properly targeted, effective for gifts made after June, 2008; and
(m) modifies the provincial component of the SIFT tax to better reflect actual provincial tax rates, effective for the 2009 and subsequent taxation years.
Part 1 also implements income tax measures to preserve the fiscal plan as set out in the February 26, 2008 Budget.
Part 2 amends the Excise Act, the Excise Act, 2001 and the Customs Tariff to implement measures aimed at improving tobacco tax enforcement and compliance, adjusting excise duties on tobacco sticks and on tobacco for duty-free markets and equalizing the excise treatment of imitation spirits and other spirits.
Part 3 implements goods and services tax and harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) measures proposed or referenced in the February 26, 2008 Budget. It amends the Excise Tax Act to expand the list of zero-rated medical and assistive devices and to ensure that all supplies of drugs sold to final consumers under prescription are zero-rated. It also amends that Act to exempt all nursing services rendered within a nurse-patient relationship, prescribed health care services ordered by an authorized registered nurse and, if certain conditions are met, a service of training that is specially designed to assist individuals in coping with the effects of their disorder or disability. It further amends that Act to ensure that a variety of professional health services maintain their GST/HST exempt status if those services are rendered by a health professional through a corporation. Additional amendments to that Act clarify the GST/HST treatment of long-term residential care facilities. Those amendments are intended to ensure that the GST New Residential Rental Property Rebate is available, and the GST/HST exempt treatment for residential leases and sales of used residential rental buildings applies, to long-term residential care facilities on a prospective basis and on past transactions if certain circumstances exist. This Part also makes amendments to relieve the GST/HST on most lease payments for land on which wind or solar power equipment used to generate electricity is situated.
Part 4 dissolves the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, provides for the Foundation to fulfill certain obligations and deposit its remaining assets in the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and repeals Part 1 of the Budget Implementation Act, 1998. It also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Part 5 amends the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act to implement measures concerning financial assistance for students, including the following:
(a) authorizing the establishment and operation, by regulation, of electronic systems to allow on-line services to be offered to students;
(b) providing for the establishment and operation, by regulation, of a program to provide for the repayment of student loans for classes of borrowers who are encountering financial difficulties;
(c) allowing part-time students to defer their student loan payments for as long as they continue to be students, and providing, by regulation, for other circumstances in which student loan payments may be deferred; and
(d) allowing the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to take remedial action if any error is made in the administration of the two Acts and in certain cases, to waive requirements imposed on students to avoid undue hardship to them.
Part 6 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to give instructions with respect to the processing of certain applications and requests in order to support the attainment of the immigration goals established by the Government of Canada.
Part 7 enacts the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board Act. The mandate of the Board is to set the Employment Insurance premium rate and to manage a financial reserve. That Part also amends the Employment Insurance Act and makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Part 8 authorizes payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the recruitment of front line police officers, capital investment in public transit infrastructure and carbon capture and storage. It also authorizes Canada Social Transfer transition protection payments.
Part 9 authorizes payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to Genome Canada, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, The Gairdner Foundation and the University of Calgary.
Part 10 amends various Acts.

[Amina Sherazee, Legal Counsellor, Canadian Arab Federation]

I too want to hear my colleague David Cohen. I understand he has some very interesting comments to make to this committee.

I have set out the basis for our organization's concerns with respect to this bill in our policy paper. I would commend the entire paper to you and would ask you to read it closely. I don't have the time to go through it, but there are very important points that need to be made, which will expand upon our reasons for taking the position we have with respect to Bill C-50, and in particular part 6.

There are ten parts to this bill, and nine out of the ten deal with fiscal matters, money matters. Then we have part 6. The rest of the bill deals with money matters, and we seriously question why it is that this government has disingenuously--and, in our submission, deceitfully--snuck in IRPA amendments to this bill that otherwise concerns money matters.

This leads us to our submission that, if you examine the provisions, if you examine the actual proposals, they neither give power that the minister doesn't already have with respect to....

I would respectfully request committee members to allow me to make my submission. I only have seven minutes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

I call the meeting to order.

I'm sure the rest of our committee members will be along. Question period was over at three o'clock; I don't know why they shouldn't be here now.

We'll continue with our second meeting today pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), consideration of the subject matter of part 6 of Bill C-50.

We have witnesses today for the first hour. From the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants we have Philip Mooney, the national president. Welcome again. We welcome as individuals Lorne Waldman, immigration lawyer, and Barbara Jackman, immigration and refugee lawyer. From the Canadian Council for Refugees we have Janet Dench, executive director. Welcome again, Janet. It's good to see you all.

You're all familiar with how we proceed, so if you have any opening statements, you may make them in any order you wish.

I will go to Mr. Waldman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

We have the witnesses here and we have the committee members, so with that we'd like to call the meeting to order.

We'd ask that the cameras leave the room.

Today we have two panels--one taking us from 3:30 to 4:30, and the other one from 4:30 to 5:30.

We're dealing with Bill C-50, and on our first panel it's our privilege to have with us the Canadian Arab Federation. I will introduce you and then yield you the floor at the appropriate time.

I will start by introducing Mr. Boudjenane. I believe you have with you Ms. Sherazee. It's good to have you both here.

The floor is yours. You have seven minutes.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Then you would agree with me that this legislation, Bill C-50, is not an instruction; it just gives the ability for an instruction to occur. That's what we're talking about.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

In effect, prioritizing skilled workers to come to the front of the line, if Bill C-50 does that, would be in agreement with that objective.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Thank you.

I have a couple of quick points.

Since coming to office, we've made over 100 appointments. So that's significant.

First of all, are refugees, protected persons, excluded from the effect of Bill C-50?

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Now, one thing that Bill C-50 would do, as amended, at least going forward, is stop the backlog from growing. You would agree with that.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon. Your comments are very interesting, particularly since you are here representing the Canadian Bar Association. I see you as representing the way laws are meant to be applied. You are concerned about Part VI of Bill C-50. Before tabling this bill, which introduces major changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, did the Minister or departmental officials consult you?

[Kerri Froc, Legal Policy Analyst, Canadian Bar Association]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Canadian Bar Association is very pleased to appear before this committee today on part 6 of Bill C-50, amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

You heard from the chair of the citizenship and immigration section of the CBA at the end of March regarding our concerns with the ministerial instructions contained in Bill C-17. Our written submission on Bill C-50 builds on this previous submission and has been circulated to you in advance.

The Canadian Bar Association is a national association with about 38,000 members across the country. The primary objectives of the organization are improvement in the law and improvement in the administration of justice.

It is in this light that we have made our written submission and that we make our comments to you today.

I'm going to ask Mr. Green, who is a member of the executive of the citizenship and immigration law section, to address the substantive issues in the bill.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Would you also agree that Bill C-50, unlike the present system, wouldn't require every application to be processed from start to finish?

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

So would you agree with me that this particular portion would prevent someone who fails under the skilled worker class in Bill C-50 from making an application under humanitarian and compassionate grounds?

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

What Bill C-50 does, for an individual in that category, is indicate that he may apply, that the minister may consider the application but wouldn't have to.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

With respect to the humanitarian and compassionate grounds applications outside of Canada--not within Canada, because I understand within Canada one or more applications can be made under humanitarian and compassionate grounds, and that still would apply, given Bill C-50.... I know there has been some mention that if a person failed outside of Canada under a skilled worker class--let's say pursuant to an instruction under Bill C-50.... If Bill C-50 wasn't there, would you agree they could apply under humanitarian and compassionate grounds pre-Bill C-50?

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

I have a couple of points. When we left off, you were going to check the specific section to see if refugees or protected persons were exempt from Bill C-50. Did you come to a conclusion on that?

[Prof. François Crépeau]

In my opinion, that question will come forward and will be referred to the courts. They will have to decide, for example, based on what mechanism it is possible not to render a decision, because that is one of the mechanisms provided for in Bill C-50. Up until now, we have been able to either accept or reject an application. Henceforth, it will be possible to accept or reject, or render no decision whatsoever.

As was pointed out by the Canadian Bar Association and the Barreau du Québec, not rendering a decision means that there is no possibility of judicial review, since there has been no decision. Thus there would no longer be any avenue for appealing such a decision. It is possible that the courts will decide that, since they are the guarantors of individual rights, if no decision has been rendered two, three or four years later, one can assume that the decision is negative, such that individuals will have a right of appeal.

I think it is really too bad that, once again, we are leaving it up to the courts to do this work. I would suggest an amendment, which would be to delete that section and ensure that a decision is made and that all applicants thus have a potential avenue of appeal.