Bill C-60 (Historical)

Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures

Part 1 implements certain income tax measures proposed in the March 21, 2013 budget. Most notably, it
(a) allows certain adoption-related expenses incurred before a child’s adoption file is opened to be eligible for the Adoption Expense Tax Credit;
(b) introduces an additional credit for first-time claimants of the Charitable Donations Tax Credit;
(c) makes expenses for the use of safety deposit boxes non-deductible;
(d) adjusts the Dividend Tax Credit and gross-up factor applicable in respect of dividends other than eligible dividends;
(e) allows collection action for 50% of taxes, interest and penalties in dispute in respect of a tax shelter that involves a charitable donation;
(f) extends, for one year, the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for flow-through share investors;
(g) extends, for two years, the temporary accelerated capital cost allowance for eligible manufacturing and processing machinery and equipment;
(h) clarifies that the income tax reserve for future services is not available in respect of reclamation obligations;
(i) phases out the additional deduction available to credit unions over five years;
(j) amends rules regarding the judicial authorization process for imposing a requirement on a third party to provide information or documents related to an unnamed person or persons; and
(k) repeals the rules relating to international banking centres.
Part 1 also implements other income tax measures and tax-related measures. Most notably, it
(a) amends rules relating to caseload management of the Tax Court of Canada;
(b) streamlines the process for approving tax relief for Canadian Forces members and police officers;
(c) addresses a technical issue in relation to the temporary measure that allows certain family members to open a Registered Disability Savings Plan for an adult individual who might not be able to enter into a contract; and
(d) simplifies the determination of the Canadian-source income of non-resident pilots employed by Canadian airlines.
Part 2 implements certain goods and services tax and harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) measures proposed in the March 21, 2013 budget by
(a) reducing the compliance burden for employers under the GST/HST pension plan rules;
(b) providing the Minister of National Revenue the authority to withhold GST/HST refunds claimed by a business where the business has failed to provide certain GST/HST registration information;
(c) expanding the GST/HST exemption for publicly funded homemaker services to include personal care services provided to individuals who require such assistance at home;
(d) clarifying that reports, examinations and other services that are supplied for a non-health-care-related purpose do not qualify for the GST/HST exemption for basic health care services; and
(e) ending the current GST/HST point-of-sale relief for the Governor General.
Part 2 also amends the Excise Tax Act and Excise Act, 2001 to modify the rules regarding the judicial authorization process for imposing a requirement on a third party to provide information or documents related to an unnamed person or persons.
In addition, Part 2 amends the Excise Act, 2001 to ensure that the excise duty rate applicable to manufactured tobacco other than cigarettes and tobacco sticks is consistent with that applicable to other tobacco products.
Part 3 implements various measures, including by enacting and amending several Acts.
Division 1 of Part 3 amends the Customs Tariff to extend for ten years, until December 31, 2024, provisions relating to Canada’s preferential tariff treatments for developing and least-developed countries. Also, Division 1 reduces the rate of duty under tariff treatments in respect of a number of items relating to baby clothing and certain sports and athletic equipment imported into Canada on or after April 1, 2013.
Division 2 of Part 3 amends the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Bank Act, the Insurance Companies Act and the Cooperative Credit Associations Act to remove some residency requirements to provide flexibility for financial institutions to efficiently structure the committees of their boards of directors.
Division 3 of Part 3 amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to renew the equalization and territorial formula financing programs until March 31, 2019 and to implement total transfer protection for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. That Act is also amended to clarify the time of calculation of the growth rate of the Canada Health Transfer for each fiscal year beginning after March 31, 2017.
Division 4 of Part 3 authorizes payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to certain entities or for certain purposes.
Division 5 of Part 3 amends the Canadian Securities Regulation Regime Transition Office Act to remove the statutory dissolution date of the Canadian Securities Regulation Regime Transition Office and to provide authority for the Governor in Council, on the Minister of Finance’s recommendation, to set another date for the dissolution of that Office.
Division 6 of Part 3 amends the Investment Canada Act to clarify how proposed investments in Canada by foreign state-owned enterprises and WTO investors will be assessed and to allow for the extension, when necessary, of timelines associated with national security reviews.
Division 7 of Part 3 amends the Canada Pension Plan to ensure that the Canada Revenue Agency can accurately identify, calculate and refund overpayments made to the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan in a particular year by contributors who live outside Quebec.
Division 8 of Part 3 amends the Pension Act and the War Veterans Allowance Act to ensure that veterans’ disability benefits are no longer deducted when calculating war veterans allowance.
Division 9 of Part 3 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to authorize the revocation of temporary foreign worker permits, the revocation and suspension of opinions provided by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development with respect to an application for a work permit and the refusal to process requests for such opinions. It authorizes fees to be paid for rights and privileges conferred by means of a work permit and exempts, from the application of the User Fees Act, those fees as well as fees for the provision of services in relation to the processing of applications for a temporary resident visa, work permit, study permit or extension of an authorization to remain in Canada as a temporary resident or in relation to requests for an opinion with respect to an application for a work permit.
It also provides that decisions made by the Refugee Protection Division under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in respect of claims for refugee protection that were referred to that Division during a specified period are not subject to appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division if they take effect after a certain date.
Division 10 of Part 3 amends the Citizenship Act to expand the Governor in Council’s authority to make regulations respecting fees for services provided in the administration of that Act and cases in which those fees may be waived. It also exempts, from the application of the User Fees Act, fees for services provided in the administration of the Citizenship Act.
Division 11 of Part 3 amends the Nuclear Safety and Control Act to authorize the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to spend for its purposes the revenue it receives from the fees it charges for licences.
Division 12 of Part 3 enacts the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, sets out the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister for International Trade and the Minister for International Development and provides for the amalgamation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency.
Division 13 of Part 3 authorizes the taking of measures with respect to the reorganization and divestiture of all or any part of Ridley Terminals Inc.
Division 14 of Part 3 amends the National Capital Act and the Department of Canadian Heritage Act to transfer certain powers, duties and functions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage from the National Capital Commission. It also makes consequential amendments to the National Holocaust Monument Act to change the Minister responsible for the construction of the monument to the Minister of Canadian Heritage from the Minister responsible for the National Capital Act.
Division 15 of Part 3 amends the Salaries Act to add ministerial positions for regional development responsibilities for northern Canada, and northern and southern Ontario. It also amends the Salaries Act to replace a reference to the Solicitor General of Canada with a reference to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. It also makes an amendment to the Parliament of Canada Act to provide that the maximum number of Parliamentary Secretaries who may be appointed is equal to the number of ministers for whom salaries are provided in the Salaries Act.
Division 16 of Part 3 amends the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act to remove the requirement for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services to obtain a request from a government, body or person in Canada or elsewhere in order for the Minister to do certain things for or on their behalf. It also amends that Act to specify that the Governor in Council’s approval relating to those things may be given on a general or a specific basis.
Division 17 of Part 3 amends the Financial Administration Act to give the Governor in Council the authority to direct a Crown corporation to have its negotiating mandate approved by the Treasury Board for the purpose of the Crown corporation entering into a collective agreement with a bargaining agent. It also gives the Treasury Board the authority to require that an employee under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Treasury Board observe the collective bargaining between the Crown corporation and the bargaining agent. It requires that a Crown corporation that is directed to have its negotiating mandate approved obtain the Treasury Board’s approval before entering into a collective agreement. It also gives the Governor in Council the authority to direct a Crown corporation to obtain the Treasury Board’s approval before the Crown corporation fixes the terms and conditions of employment of certain of its non-unionized employees. Finally, it makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Division 18 of Part 3 amends the Keeping Canada’s Economy and Jobs Growing Act to provide for increases to the sums that may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for municipal, regional and First Nations infrastructure through the Gas Tax Fund. It also provides that the sums may be paid on the requisition of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-60, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures, be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.

Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, two years ago yesterday, many of us in this House were elected for our first term. Given that occasion, as I rise today I thank my constituents in Calgary Centre-North who elected me and gave me the great honour of allowing me to represent them and speak on their behalf here in Ottawa. I thank my constituents very much.

It is on that note that it gives me great pleasure to rise and speak in support of our budget implementation bill, which continues on our government track record of trying to ensure that Canada is a place of economic prosperity, job growth, environmental health and safety, and innovation. It is also a place where as legislators in this House of Commons, we can assure our constituents we are doing everything possible to be wise stewards of their taxpayer dollars and everything possible to ensure the sustainability of the programs we are tasked with legislating long into the future.

Two years ago, I remember travelling throughout my riding. The number one thing I heard from my constituents then, and now—I was actually out door knocking last weekend in a couple of communities in my riding—is the fact that Canadians are still concerned about the economy. I believe that is still the number one issue on the minds of Canadians right now. We need to be cognizant of that when we are approaching debate on the government's budget.

Canadians are still concerned about the global economic situation. They are concerned about ensuring we have markets to which we can trade our products and that we have export markets. They are concerned about ensuring we have job growth.

They are also concerned about making sure our government programs are sustainable, that we are making sure when we are voting to spend their tax dollars in this place that we can do that with authority. We want to be able to tell them we are looking for ways to make programs more effective whenever possible. That is really the goal of economic action plan 2013.

I often rise in the House to speak about environmental issues, but today I will speak about a few initiatives that are very important to the people in my riding. Certainly there is commonality across the country, but there are certain issues addressed in economic action plan 2013 that are important to Albertans.

First, the Canada job grant was one of the cornerstones of economic action plan 2013. Certainly in my home province, we face a skilled worker shortage. I have heard from many businesses in my community and across the province, but there are other components of the economy across the country that speak to this as well. That is why we introduced the Canada job grant. Providing up to $15,000 per person in Alberta would combine federal, provincial, territorial and employer funding to help folks get the skills they need for independent jobs. By doing so, we hope to fill those in-demand jobs in a more effective way.

We also want to make sure that Canadians who want to seek those skills to fill those positions have the tools at hand to do that. That is the role of this program. I am very excited about it. I am sure it will have a very positive impact on our economy across the country, but certainly at home in Alberta.

One of the challenges we have in Calgary is the fact that it is a growing city. I am quite proud to represent a Calgary riding because I feel it is one of the economic engine cities of the country. One of the demands we see in Calgary is for infrastructure. Our government has been very proud to support infrastructure funding across the country. In Calgary, some of our economic action plan funding has been used to build things like the Stoney Trail ring road.

I am very excited about the indexation of the gas tax fund to better support the development of this infrastructure, and I hope my colleagues will support it. That is such an important thing because it will allow cities to build upon the continuation and certainty we have provided by making the gas tax transfer funds permanent. That is a legacy that our government is quite proud of, and it is a wonderful part of economic action plan 2013.

I will talk about a few other things today that are in economic action plan 2013.

As members know, we have recently reformed the temporary foreign worker program to make sure Canadians are given the first crack at available jobs. About a week and a half ago, I held a town hall teleconference in my riding. I think I had almost 10,000 of my constituents on that call at one point. Several of the questions we received related to making sure that program is both effective and fair in the long run. That is really where our reforms have been aimed over the last year. Certainly, this is a step in the right direction.

There are many things that my colleagues should have a look at with regard to how communities in their ridings are supported in economic action plan 2013. I have just mentioned a couple of them here.

I want to spend my remaining time talking about something that is very near and dear to my heart, that being the support for science and technology in economic action plan 2013.

There is one program that I specifically want to highlight and which I hope my colleagues will choose to support, and that is the $165 million in multi-year support we have provided to genomics research through Genome Canada. For those of my colleagues who are not familiar with Genome Canada's work, it is a very unique program. It cultivates and supports some of the best and brightest researchers in their work on this cutting-edge, uniquely Canadian research that is designed to support a wide variety of industrial problems and basic research problems across the country.

I am quite supportive of this funding because Genome Canada has a track record of research excellence in supporting some of the best and brightest researchers in this country. I hope my colleagues will support economic action plan 2013, in part because some of these programs exist and are funded.

Further to that, on the S and T side, I believe we have $325 million of additional support for Sustainable Development Technology Canada, SDTC. This is an organization that is dedicated to bringing clean energy technology, clean technology and sustainable technology to industry so we can continue to address major issues in some of the bigger sectors of our economy, including the energy sector.

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to tour Pure Technologies, a company in my riding. It has developed a technology that SDTC has supported. Basically, it is a ball that can go through pipelines and detect microscopic fractures to help promote better monitoring of our pipeline safety. It is these sorts of developments that our government is proud to support, through organizations like Genome Canada and SDTC, but more importantly also through our tri-council granting agencies as well.

I spent several years working with these agencies, and we have provided continued support to them through budget 2013, as well as to the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This is an organization that supports the funding of research infrastructure, so it is either the bricks and mortar needed to support research or the equipment that researchers need. Our continued support there is very indicative that supporting science and technology, and the diversification of the Canadian economy, is something our government is not only cognizant of, but into which we are really putting our money where our mouth is. That is very evident in budget 2013.

Overall, the goal of budget 2013, and what we have seen in here, is that balance between ensuring we have long-term economic growth, which is built on our track record of programs such as a suite of programming for responsible resource development, but also making sure our House is in order in Ottawa. We are trying to make sure that as we grow our economy, we are also moving back to balance.

I was quite pleased to see some of the economic forecasts that this budget has been based around. I know our Minister of Finance has worked quite hard to get to that point.

I certainly will be very proud to support this particular bill because of that ability to move Canada's economy into sustainability well into the future and build on our strong track record of growing Canada's economy.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by saying that I agree with a central point that my hon. friend made, which is that Canadians believe the economy and economic growth is the number one priority. However, where I disagree with her is that somehow the government is a “wise steward of taxpayers' dollars”.

I would particularly ask the member whether or not this budget, with its hundreds of tax hikes, from hospital parking and credit union safety deposit boxes to bicycles and baby strollers, which are costing Canadians perhaps $8 billion over the next five years, demonstrates a good economic decision at this point in our country's history. Is this the right time for those changes?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great joy that I answer my colleague's question and hear of his interest in reducing the tax burden for the average Canadian. I am glad this is something we share.

In fact, it has been through our government's efforts since we took power in 2006 that we have reduced the Canadian tax burden by about $3,000 for an average family of four. That is a lot of money. It has an impact on Canadian society. Yes, this is our track record, and it is something that we are quite proud of.

I find it interesting that he is bringing this up, given that the budget his party put forward actually did not have any costing attached to it. I am not sure how he can talk about wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars when there is no costing associated with the NDP's financial proposals. It is something we should be quite concerned about.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the remarks of the parliamentary secretary, who mentioned “as we grow our economy” several times, but in fact the Canadian economy is virtually stalled. There is a great deal of concern right across the spectrum over how poorly our economy is doing right now.

One of the ways it is being stalled is by the hits on small businesses, which, as we know, are the job creators of Canada. My colleague from Thunder Bay—Superior North mentioned the attack on tourism and the downturn in the tourism industry. Small businesses are hurting under the Conservative government.

I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary which small businesses that the government consulted advised that there should be an extra tax on dividends, which will cost small businesses $2.3 billion over the next five years?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the premise of my colleague's question, in that Canada actually has a strong record of economic growth in the global context. The fact that we have created over 900,000 net new jobs in our economy since the economic downturn was deemed to have slowed down is something that our country should be quite proud of. We should be touting that.

We are attracting workers and investment to this country at greater rates than some of the developed countries are, and this is through our government's focus on ensuring that our products have access to other markets, that we have increased trade relations and that we have a proper regulatory structure that allows for investments in major infrastructure projects.

All of these things are at the core of budget 2013. They build on our government's track record, and yes, absolutely, we are seeing economic growth.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I noted that my colleague mentioned she had been spending some time recently knocking on doors in her riding.

I have been knocking on doors in my riding, which is in the Calgary area as well. I have knocked on doors in the community of Cochrane and I have spent time at trade shows in communities like Airdrie and Didsbury, which are all in the same general area. My constituents are quite happy to be hearing that we have reconfirmed in the budget that we will make sure we balance our federal budget by 2015. I am wondering if she has heard similar things from people in her community and if her constituents are supportive of our commitment as a government to make sure we balance the federal budget by 2015.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my very hard-working colleague raises an excellent point. What his constituents told him shows that this is a principle that is very important to many Canadians. Why? It is because Canadians know in their hearts what it takes to balance a chequebook. They understand that if we spend more now, we have to either spend less in the future or increase revenue.

As I said earlier, through our government's efforts to increase trading opportunities and increase job creation through various programs, we are creating the economic growth or the increased revenue component through the strategic review of various government departments and through looking for operational efficiencies. We are also trying to make sure that government works more effectively. It is that balance that our constituents expect.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will take this opportunity to voice my disappointment and opposition with respect to the various measures set out in Bill C-60, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013.

Once again, I am sorry that the government has decided to move a time allocation motion to limit debate in the House. This denial of democracy is especially appalling since Bill C-60 contains many amendments that will affect Canadians directly.

It is important to point out that this bill amends close to 50 laws, including a number of things that have nothing to do with the budget, strictly speaking.

Rather than splitting it up so that we can study it in-depth in committee, the government wants to impose its views in a mammoth bill for the third time in this Parliament. The Conservatives are rejecting good democratic sense, without any consultation and without in-depth debate.

What we are getting is yet another austerity program that will in no way help Canadians re-enter the workforce and that will keep the country on a precarious path.

Tax increases, tariff hikes and the elimination of tax credits for labour-sponsored funds and co-operatives: the outcome is that Canadians have less money in their pockets, have access to fewer services and are the primary victims of the Conservatives' action.

As the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported this week, budget 2012, the 2012 economic update and budget 2013 alone will lead to the loss of 60,000 jobs by 2017, and a 0.57% drop in the GDP.

This determination to make massive cuts is unacceptable because they will inevitably cause an economic downturn. What the Conservatives are doing is weakening Canadian growth to serve some backwards ideological imperative.

Issues related to immigration and the temporary foreign worker program have a prominent place in this bill. It is therefore essential that we pay special attention to them.

First, the Conservatives were true to form with regard to the temporary foreign worker program. They waited until they were backed into a corner before reacting. They waited until the very last minute to make adjustments to the program. Today, without any consultation, they quickly and with great fanfare announced adjustment measures.

In reality, what the government is announcing with regard to the temporary foreign worker program undoes everything the government has done since it was elected.

The Conservatives were pushing for an increased number of temporary foreign workers. Today, they realize that they went too far. They were allowing companies to pay temporary foreign workers 15% less than Canadians workers. Today, they admit that that was a mistake, even though they completely denied those accusations less than a week ago.

They announced a program to fast-track the processing of applications. Today, they realize that companies are taking advantage of this opportunity to replace Canadian workers.

The fact is that the Conservatives hastily went ahead with these measures without consultation, which is exactly the same criticism we have of Bill C-60 today.

The government's laissez-faire attitude has led to such debacles as the ones involving HD Mining and the Royal Bank of Canada.

We believe that the temporary foreign worker program must return to its core mandate, which is to allow companies to meet specific workforce needs for a temporary period of time when Canadians are not available to do the job, particularly highly skilled occupations.

The program must not be used to replace Canadian workers nor to cut companies' payroll costs, as the Conservatives have allowed.

Last week, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, reiterated what the NDP has been saying for a long time.

The new user fees and the government's requirement for companies to submit a hiring and training plan for Canadian workers before being able to benefit from the program will penalize small and medium-sized businesses much more than large businesses.

SMEs will have more difficulty complying with these requirements since the costs will have a much greater impact on SMEs overall spending than they will on that of the big Canadian banks, for example.

Similarly, Bill C-60 gives the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism new discretionary powers. This is in addition to the powers he gave himself under Bill C-31 and Bill C-43.

Instead of putting the normal appeal process in place, the minister is once again setting himself up as both judge and jury in various immigration matters. As for other aspects related to immigration, the issue of fees is also cause for concern. It is important to point out that the new fees put forward by the minister for applications for permanent residence, citizenship and the temporary foreign worker program will not be subject to the User Fees Act under Bill C-60.

Accordingly, for these new fees, the minister will not have to consult with anyone, do any impact studies or inform applicants. In the last budget, the Minister of Finance gave Citizenship and Immigration Canada the latitude to increase various fees. Now he is giving that department carte blanche.

An application for permanent residence can cost over $1,500 with all the associated fees, and increasing costs even further will limit people's access to our immigration programs.

In addition to wanting to create a distinction between citizens with just one citizenship and those with dual citizenship, now the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism will also be creating a distinction between wealthy immigrants and those who are less well off. The government's decision to reduce that department's budget for integration services will have a direct and negative impact.

In closing, this House must work on behalf of all Canadians. Imposing major changes of this nature without sufficient debate shows carelessness and contempt for democracy.

The immigration measures announced in response to pressure in the House and in the media, particularly concerning the temporary foreign worker program, reek of improvisation and amateurism, as usual.

Once again, this government is demonstrating that it has no overall plan and it has no idea what it means to be accountable.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of people in my riding of Toronto—Danforth have been writing to me about what they want to see in this budget. I have to say that trashing unionized workers was not on anybody's list.

Bill C-60 authorizes the government's Treasury Board to intervene at any stage of collective bargaining between any one of 49 crown corporations and unionized workers in order to impose a negotiating mandate on the corporation. It also permits the Treasury Board to intervene directly with the crown corporation and change the conditions of employment for any non-union employee at any time.

This represents the deepest possible hypocrisy by the Conservative government. I wonder if my colleague agrees that in this House and in the media, government ministers repeatedly tell us that crown corporations operate at arm's length from the government as a way to shield these corporations from accountability, effectively saying, “Don't ask us; ask the corporation.”

For example, repeatedly the government does this with respect to Canada Post when it is closing outlets, while never failing to take the opportunity to defend Canada Post's freedom to do what it wants, including pushing a business model that is designed to squeeze out unionized workers more and more.

Therefore, beyond hypocrisy, this is a combination of big government and Big Brother government. I wonder if my colleague for Saint-Lambert agrees with me or can add anything else.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I obviously agree with him. The government is always telling us that this is an austerity budget and that it is meant to stimulate the economy. That will have a number of implications. My colleague talked about complete and total interference in crown corporations, when these corporations should be independent and should remain that way.

In addition to interfering in crown corporations, this government is choosing to take control over everything. We can see in particular how it is trying to interfere in collective bargaining and everything related to hiring or choosing employees. This government is misguided and continues to be very controlling.

[Bruce Hyer, Independent, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to build on the question asked by the hon. member for Toronto—Danforth and ask the member for Saint-Lambert to say more about this.

It was very worrisome to me when I discovered that in Bill C-60 we would have the government staff sitting on the boards of our crown corporations, vetting and making decisions. This would end an historic arm's-length status of companies like VIA Rail, Canada Post and the CBC—

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please. Unfortunately, I do not think the translation was working.

The translation is not working. Is it working now?

It seems to be working now.

[Bruce Hyer, Independent, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member, following up on the question from the member for Toronto—Danforth, about government staff sitting in on the boards of crown corporations, vetting and making decisions under Bill C-60. As we know, these omnibus budget bills have little surprises and this is a worrisome surprise. This would end the historic arm's-length relationship of companies like VIA Rail, Canada Post and the CBC.

In light of today being World Press Freedom Day, what does the member think about the government taking control of what is supposed to be our independent broadcaster in Canada?

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. This situation is very serious. We are talking about the CBC. Today is World Press Freedom Day, and we have to send a clear message that freedom of the press must be observed and, obviously, maintained.

We have a democratic system. However, this government is taking over many aspects of our economy. This interference will be nothing but disastrous. As the official opposition, we will continue to oppose these completely unacceptable control tactics.