Bill C-31 (Historical)

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures

Part 1 implements income tax measures and related measures proposed in the February 11, 2014 budget. Most notably, it
(a) increases the maximum amount of eligible expenses for the adoption expense tax credit;
(b) expands the list of expenses eligible for the medical expense tax credit to include the cost of the design of individualized therapy plans and costs associated with service animals for people with severe diabetes;
(c) introduces the search and rescue volunteers tax credit;
(d) extends, for one year, the mineral exploration tax credit for flow-through share investors;
(e) expands the circumstances in which members of underfunded pension plans can benefit from unreduced pension-to-RRSP transfer limits;
(f) eliminates the need for individuals to apply for the GST/HST credit and allows the Minister of National Revenue to automatically determine if an individual is eligible to receive the credit;
(g) extends to 10 years the carry-forward period with respect to certain donations of ecologically sensitive land;
(h) removes, for certified cultural property acquired as part of a gifting arrangement that is a tax shelter, the exemption from the rule that deems the value of a gift to be no greater than its cost to the donor;
(i) allows the Minister of National Revenue to refuse to register, or revoke the registration of, a charity or Canadian amateur athletic association that accepts a donation from a state supporter of terrorism;
(j) reduces, for certain small and medium-sized employers, the frequency of remittances for source deductions;
(k) improves the Canada Revenue Agency’s ability to provide feedback to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada; and
(l) requires a listing of outstanding tax measures to be tabled in Parliament.
Part 1 also implements other selected income tax measures. Most notably, it
(a) introduces transitional rules relating to the labour-sponsored venture capital corporations tax credit;
(b) requires certain financial intermediaries to report to the Canada Revenue Agency international electronic funds transfers of $10,000 or more;
(c) makes amendments relating to the introduction of the Offshore Tax Informant Program of the Canada Revenue Agency;
(d) permits the disclosure of taxpayer information to an appropriate police organization in certain circumstances if the information relates to a serious offence; and
(e) provides that the Business Development Bank of Canada and BDC Capital Inc. are not financial institutions for the purposes of the Income Tax Act’s mark-to-market rules.
Part 2 implements certain goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) measures proposed in the February 11, 2014 budget by
(a) expanding the GST/HST exemption for training that is specially designed to assist individuals with a disorder or disability to include the service of designing such training;
(b) expanding the GST/HST exemption for services rendered to individuals by certain health care practitioners to include professional services rendered by acupuncturists and naturopathic doctors;
(c) adding eyewear specially designed to treat or correct a defect of vision by electronic means to the list of GST/HST zero-rated medical and assistive devices;
(d) extending to newly created members of a group the election that allows members of a closely-related group to not account for GST/HST on certain supplies between them, introducing joint and several (or solidary) liability for the parties to that election for any GST/HST liability on those supplies and adding a requirement to file that election with the Canada Revenue Agency;
(e) giving the Minister of National Revenue the discretionary authority to register a person for GST/HST purposes if the person fails to comply with the requirement to apply for registration, even after having been notified by the Canada Revenue Agency of that requirement; and
(f) improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s ability to provide feedback to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.
Part 2 also implements other GST/HST measures by
(a) providing a GST/HST exemption for supplies of hospital parking for patients and visitors, clarifying that the GST/HST exemption for supplies of a property, when all or substantially all of the supplies of the property by a charity are made for free, does not apply to paid parking and clarifying that paid parking provided by charities that are set up or used by municipalities, universities, public colleges, schools and hospitals to operate their parking facilities does not qualify for the special GST/HST exemption for parking supplied by charities;
(b) clarifying that reports of international electronic funds transfers made to the Canada Revenue Agency may be used for the purposes of the administration of the GST/HST;
(c) making amendments relating to the introduction of the Offshore Tax Informant Program of the Canada Revenue Agency;
(d) permitting the disclosure of confidential GST/HST information to an appropriate police organization in certain circumstances if the information relates to a serious offence; and
(e) clarifying that a person cannot claim input tax credits in respect of an amount of GST/HST that has already been recovered by the person from a supplier.
Part 3 implements excise measures proposed in the February 11, 2014 budget by
(a) adjusting the domestic rate of excise duty on tobacco products to account for inflation and eliminating the preferential excise duty treatment of tobacco products available through duty free markets;
(b) ensuring that excise tax returns are filed accurately through the addition of a new administrative monetary penalty and an amended criminal offence for the making of false statements or omissions, consistent with similar provisions in the GST/HST portion of the Excise Tax Act; and
(c) improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s ability to provide feedback to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.
Part 3 also implements other excise measures by
(a) permitting the disclosure of confidential information to an appropriate police organization in certain circumstances if the information relates to a serious offence; and
(b) making amendments relating to the introduction of the Offshore Tax Informant Program of the Canada Revenue Agency.
In addition, Part 3 amends the Air Travellers Security Charge Act, the Excise Act, 2001 and the Excise Tax Act to clarify that reports of international electronic funds transfers made to the Canada Revenue Agency may be used for the purposes of the administration of those Acts.
Part 4 amends the Customs Tariff. In particular, it
(a) reduces the Most-Favoured-Nation rates of duty and, if applicable, rates of duty under the other tariff treatments on tariff items related to mobile offshore drilling units used in oil and gas exploration and development that are imported on or after May 5, 2014;
(b) removes the exemption provided by tariff item 9809.00.00 and makes consequential amendments to tariff item 9833.00.00 to apply the same tariff rules to the Governor General that are applied to other public office holders; and
(c) clarifies the tariff classification of certain imported food products, effective November 29, 2013.
Part 5 enacts the Canada–United States Enhanced Tax Information Exchange Agreement Implementation Act and amends the Income Tax Act to introduce consequential information reporting requirements.
Part 6 enacts and amends several Acts in order to implement various measures.
Division 1 of Part 6 provides for payments to compensate for deductions in certain benefits and allowances that are payable under the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act, the War Veterans Allowance Act and the Civilian War-related Benefits Act.
Division 2 of Part 6 amends the Bank of Canada Act and the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act to authorize the Bank of Canada to provide banking and custodial services to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Division 3 of Part 6 amends the Hazardous Products Act to better regulate the sale and importation of hazardous products intended for use, handling or storage in a work place in Canada in accordance with the Regulatory Cooperation Council Joint Action Plan initiative for work place chemicals. In particular, the amendments implement the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals with respect to, among other things, labelling and safety data sheet requirements. It also provides for enhanced powers related to administration and enforcement. Finally, it makes amendments to the Canada Labour Code and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act.
Division 4 of Part 6 amends the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act to authorize individuals to transport beer and spirits from one province to another for their personal consumption.
Division 5 of Part 6 amends the Judges Act to increase the number of judges of the Superior Court of Quebec and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.
Division 6 of Part 6 amends the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act to prohibit parliamentarians from contributing to their pension and accruing pensionable service as a result of a suspension.
Division 7 of Part 6 amends the National Defence Act to recognize the historic names of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force while preserving the integration and the unification achieved under the Canadian Forces Reorganization Act and to provide that the designations of rank and the circumstances of their use are prescribed in regulations made by the Governor in Council.
Division 8 of Part 6 amends the Customs Act to extend to 90 days the time for making a request for a review of a seizure, ascertained forfeiture or penalty assessment and to provide that requests for a review and third-party claims can be made directly to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Division 9 of Part 6 amends the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act to provide for the dissolution of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Board and to repeal the requirement for the President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to submit a comprehensive report every five years on the Agency’s activities and on the impact those activities have had on regional disparity.
Division 10 of Part 6 dissolves the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation and authorizes, among other things, the transfer of its assets and obligations, as well as those of its subsidiaries, to either the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency or Her Majesty in right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. It also provides that the employees of the Corporation and its subsidiaries are deemed to have been appointed under the Public Service Employment Act and includes provisions related to their terms and conditions of employment. Furthermore, it amends the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Act to, among other things, confer on the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency the authority that is necessary for the administration, management, control and disposal of the assets and obligations transferred to the Agency. It also makes consequential amendments to other Acts and repeals the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation Act.
Division 11 of Part 6 provides for the transfer of responsibility for the administration of the programs known as the “Online Works of Reference” and the “Virtual Museum of Canada” from the Minister of Canadian Heritage to the Canadian Museum of History.
Division 12 of Part 6 amends the Nordion and Theratronics Divestiture Authorization Act to remove certain restrictions on the acquisition of voting shares of Nordion.
Division 13 of Part 6 amends the Bank Act to add regulation-making powers respecting a bank’s activities in relation to derivatives and benchmarks.
Division 14 of Part 6 amends the Insurance Companies Act to broaden the Governor in Council’s authority to make regulations respecting the conversion of a mutual company into a company with common shares.
Division 15 of Part 6 amends the Motor Vehicle Safety Act to support the objectives of the Regulatory Cooperation Council to enhance the alignment of Canadian and U.S. regulations while protecting Canadians. It introduces measures to accelerate and streamline the regulatory process, reduce the administrative burden for manufacturers and importers and improve safety for Canadians through revised oversight procedures and enhanced availability of vehicle safety information.
The amendments to the Railway Safety Act and the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992 modernize the legislation by aligning it with the Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management.
This Division also amends the Safe Food for Canadians Act to authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting activities related to specified fresh fruits and vegetables, including requiring a person who engages in certain activities to be a member of a specified entity or organization. It also repeals the Board of Arbitration.
Division 16 of Part 6 amends the Telecommunications Act to set a maximum amount that a Canadian carrier can charge to another Canadian carrier for certain roaming services.
Division 17 of Part 6 amends the Canada Labour Code to allow employees to interrupt their compassionate care leave or leave related to their child’s critical illness, death or disappearance in order to take leave because of sickness or a work-related illness or injury. It also amends the Employment Insurance Act to facilitate access to sickness benefits for claimants who are in receipt of compassionate care benefits or benefits for parents of critically ill children.
Division 18 of Part 6 amends the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act to provide that fees fixed under that Act for the use of a facility provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the Safe Food for Canadians Act as well as fees fixed for services, products and rights and privileges provided by the Agency under that Act are exempt from the application of the User Fees Act.
Division 19 of Part 6 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to, among other things, enhance the client identification, record keeping and registration requirements for financial institutions and intermediaries, refer to online casinos, and extend the application of the Act to persons and entities that deal in virtual currencies and foreign money services businesses. Furthermore, it makes modifications in regards to the information that the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada may receive, collect or disclose, and expands the circumstances in which the Centre or the Canada Border Services Agency can disclose information received or collected under the Act. It also updates the review and appeal provisions related to cross-border currency reporting and brings Part 1.1 of the Act into force.
Division 20 of Part 6 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2 to, among other things,
(a) require certain applications to be made electronically;
(b) provide for the making of regulations regarding the establishment of a system of administrative monetary penalties for the contravention of conditions applicable to employers hiring foreign workers;
(c) provide for the termination of certain applications for permanent residence in respect of which a decision as to whether the selection criteria are met is not made before February 11, 2014; and
(d) clarify and strengthen requirements related to the expression of interest regime.
Division 21 of Part 6 amends the Public Service Labour Relations Act to clarify that an adjudicator may grant systemic remedies when it has been determined that the employer has engaged in a discriminatory practice.
It also clarifies the transitional provisions in respect of essential services that were enacted by the Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2.
Division 22 of Part 6 amends the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006 to clarify how payments to provinces under section 99 of that Act are to be determined.
Division 23 of Part 6 amends the Budget Implementation Act, 2009 so that the aggregate amount of payments to provinces and territories for matters relating to the establishment of a Canadian securities regulation regime may be fixed through an appropriation Act.
Division 24 of Part 6 amends the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act and the National Housing Act to provide that certain criteria established in a regulation may apply to an existing insured mortgage or hypothecary loan.
Division 25 of Part 6 amends the Trade-marks Act to, among other things, make that Act consistent with the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks and add the authority to make regulations for carrying into effect the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. The amendments include the simplification of the requirements for obtaining a filing date in relation to an application for the registration of a trade-mark, the elimination of the requirement to declare use of a trade-mark before registration, the reduction of the term of registration of a trade-mark from 15 to 10 years, and the adoption of the classification established by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks.
Division 26 of Part 6 amends the Trade-marks Act to repeal the power to appoint the Registrar of Trade-marks and to provide that the Registrar is the person appointed as Commissioner of Patents under subsection 4(1) of the Patent Act.
Division 27 of Part 6 amends the Old Age Security Act to prevent the payment of Old Age Security income-tested benefits for the entire period of a sponsorship undertaking by removing the current 10-year cap.
Division 28 of Part 6 enacts the New Bridge for the St. Lawrence Act, respecting the construction and operation of a new bridge in Montreal to replace the Champlain Bridge and the Nuns’ Island Bridge.
Division 29 of Part 6 enacts the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada Act, which establishes the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) as a portion of the federal public administration. The ATSSC becomes the sole provider of resources and staff for 11 administrative tribunals and provides facilities and support services to those tribunals, including registry, administrative, research and analysis services. The Division also makes consequential amendments to the Acts establishing those tribunals and to other Acts related to those tribunals.
Division 30 of Part 6 enacts the Apprentice Loans Act, which provides for financial assistance for apprentices to help with the cost of their training. Under that Act, apprentices registered in eligible trades will be eligible for loans that will be interest-free until their training ends.

Motions in Amendment

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I apologize on a personal level to the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, because I am very fond of her, but with all due respect, where on earth is there anything in Bill C-31 relevant to this speech? Perhaps the hon. member could direct us to something in Bill C-31 that has any relevance to this speech.

[The Deputy Speaker, Joe Comartin]

The member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is using a very common strategy of debate in the House. We see it all the time. What she is saying is this is not the way to do it. Do it this way. That is what she is doing. It happens in the House all the time by members on all sides of the House. One may question the tactic, but it is still relevant to the debate that is before us this evening.

The hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke can continue.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it does matter who is in control of Canada's national finances. Bill C-31 proposes to legislate key elements of economic action plan 2014, which commits to a return to a balanced budget in 2015. It is clear from the many consultations I have had with my constituents that the main issues for them are jobs, taxes, and the economy.

In my riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, one of the largest employers is Atomic Energy of Canada. With close to 3,000 employees, it has been recognized by groups like the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus, which said that without the presence of AECL, the economic malaise brought on by the disastrous electricity rate policy of the Ontario Liberals would be much worse in this part of rural small-town eastern Ontario.

The economic action plan provides $117 million over two years to provide for the continued safe operation of Canada's world renowned nuclear research facility. It was extremely disappointing to the tens of thousands of nuclear workers in Ontario and Quebec's nuclear supply chains to listen to the ill-informed remarks of the opposition regarding Canada's success story, CANDU, following the last time I spoke in the chamber on this issue. It is clear that the opponents of the Canadian success story have done a job spreading misinformation, robotically repeated by the opposition, using events in other parts of the world, which are not the Canadian experience.

The money for AECL is money well spent, and here are a few reasons why. Number one is its groundbreaking research. AECL is one of Canada's scientific leaders. A patent is an exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years. Patents are granted on a country-by-country basis and can only be granted in countries where formal applications have been filed. AECL submitted 18 applications during the 2012-13 fiscal year, achieving 13 patent approvals. That is more than one a month.

Among the many other AECL patents included the invention of a valve lantern ring packing cutter used in the maintenance of reactor components, an ingenious fuel bundle design to help improve reactor safety, and a novel core design allowing for a thorium fuel cycle in a heavy water moderated reactor.

For more than 60 years, AECL has served as Canada's premium nuclear science and technology organization. AECL and its laboratories are a strategic element of Canada's national S and T infrastructure as well as a national innovation system.

AECL is one of the reasons our Prime Minister can proudly refer to Canada as a clean energy superpower. AECL is science at work for Canada. The breadth and depth of the work in the nuclear science and technology carried out at AECL is obviously a surprise to anyone who does not take the time to learn the facts. AECL's mandate is to deliver energy, health, environmental, and economic benefits to Canadians. This is founded on the principle of customer focus and collaboration.

AECL has a wall and curtain system, among many other things, and these are just a few of the recent examples of the scientific, groundbreaking research that is taking place in the Ottawa Valley in Chalk River, just miles down the Trans-Canada Highway from Ottawa. I am honoured to have AECL in my riding and proud to stand in support of a budget that recognizes its contributions in Canada.

If I am allowed in questions and answers, I will go on to describe the many other technologies AECL is patenting for the good of Canada and the good of the world.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I find it very ironic that my colleague talked about electricity rates and tried to blame it on the Liberals. The Liberals had something to do with it, but let us be very clear. Under the Conservatives, most of them on the front bench there, we started to see the hydro rates go up. This only proves that there is no difference between the Tories and the Liberals, for heaven sakes.

If people really want change, they are going to vote for Andrea Horwath in this provincial election, and that is coming up very quickly.

The Conservatives are quick to talk about how good they are trying to make the economy, but, all in all, we see the job situation in Canada. Under the Conservatives, almost 300,000 more people are unemployed, and there will be another 100,000 less jobs if Hudak gets in.

What do the Conservatives have against workers in our country? Why do they not ensure there are proper training and proper safeguards for people who lose their jobs? Why are they not creating the jobs they should be, as opposed to low-paying jobs and part-time jobs?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since that was blatant propaganda, I will let Canadians know about another such invention in the area of three-dimensional gel dosimetry:

Canadians fight cancer with radiotherapy every day. Prior to treatment, each patient’s dose must be accurately calculated - not too much and not too little. And the dose must be targeted for an exact location in the body. AECL scientists set out to devise a system that allows faster and more economic dose assessment for physicians. The more accurate this dose determination, the more precise the treatment, and the lower the overall radiation dose to the patient. AECL's 3-D Gel Dosimeter uses a gelled scintillator, a material which glows when struck by high-energy particles such as radiation. When viewed by a digital imaging system, this scintillator provides accurate, real-time 3-D dose distributions.

This is saving lives.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague started her speech by saying she represented the people of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke and was bringing their concerns to the table.

This is a list of the people, and I am sure there are many in her riding, who would be affected by FATCA. It is far more than U.S. citizens. According to a legal expert, it would apply to Canadian citizens who are also U.S. citizens; Canadian citizens born in the U.S. who thought they lost their citizenship; Canadian citizens born in the U.S. who have lived their whole lives in Canada, having come here at maybe six months old; Canadian citizens with green cards; Canadian citizens who physically spend a certain amount of time in the U.S.; or, Canadian citizens sharing financial accounts with U.S. persons, for example one who is married to or shares a business venture with a U.S. person.

This is why it is estimated that approximately one million Canadians will be affected by FATCA.

Does the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke have some concerns for those constituents within her riding?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke who pay their taxes, who are not hiding money, do not have to worry. They are in touch with my office and we are helping them through this.

However, let me tell some more facts. AECL is a key player in the global non-proliferation and de-proliferation efforts by doing the following:

—increasing the need for alternatives to highly-enriched uranium. As part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative’s goal to reduce and protect vulnerable nuclear and radiological material located at civilian sites worldwide, AECL leads the development of a uranium molybdenum dispersion fuel....U-Mo is a high density fuel which allows the use of low enriched uranium to achieve the same fuel equivalent as some highly enriched fuels.And the spent fuel is much cleaner as well.

Therefore, not only are we doing great things in medicine and producing economical, sustainable, clean energy for electricity, but we are helping to keep the world a safer place.

Bill C-31—Notice of time allocation motion

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I must advise an agreement has not been reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2) concerning the proceedings at report stage and third reading of Bill C-31, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures.

Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of proceedings at those stages.

Report Stage

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very disappointed with the government right now, moving a time allocation motion on this particular bill. This is an important bill that needs to be discussed in this House. When this bill was introduced, I was hoping, since it is 360-odd pages, that we could look at this bill and see some things that would help my community of Surrey North. As always, it is an honour to speak in this House on behalf of my constituents in Surrey North. When I looked at the bill, I was hoping that here be something there for jobs. Jobs are needed in my community, well-paying jobs. What did I find? There are no initiatives in this bill that would address that issue.

We have asked for a hiring tax credit for small businesses, because small businesses generate jobs in our communities across this country, hundreds and thousands of jobs. What do we find in this particular bill? Nothing to help the small businesses that actually generate well-paying jobs. I am very disappointed that this bill did not address any of the issues in regard to generating new jobs in my communities.

Let us take a look at another issue in my community. There are long wait times for surgery. What did I find in this bill? Nothing to help provinces bring down the wait times for surgeries. People have to wait for months and months before they are able to get the elective surgery that is much needed.

The member across the way is saying that it is a provincial issue. Yes, it is, but we can transfer money. Federal transfer payments do go to provinces. What has the government done? It has actually cut $36 billion of transfer payments for health care in the provinces.

There was an opportunity for government to help reduce the wait times for elective surgeries. What did it do? Nothing.

Another issue in my community is crime. Again, the House leader of the soon-to-be opposition is interrupting me.

I looked at the bill, and what is in there in regard to crime prevention initiatives? Nothing. There is nothing in there to increase the RCMP numbers in my communities so that we could have more RCMP patrol our streets. There is nothing that will address the crime issues in my communities.

There are other issues in my communities. Affordable housing. When I look at Bill C-31, there is nothing in there to help provide affordable housing in my communities.

I could go on. I looked at infrastructure. I have a bridge in my community that is 75 years old. The life of the Pattullo Bridge was supposed to be 50 years. It is supposed to be torn down. When I looked to see if the government was looking at increasing the infrastructure funding for our municipalities, there was nothing in there.

Summer is coming. When I go back home to Surrey and look at the gas prices, they are ballooning. Our wages are not going anywhere. There is nothing in this bill that will actually put money into people's pockets.

I could go on. There are seniors in my communities. Seniors could use an increase in CPP payments. There is nothing in this bill to help our seniors.

I could go on and on in regard to this. Here is something I said on October 29, 2013. I spoke on Bill C-4, another budget implementation bill, and here is what I said:

Bill C-4 is yet another omnibus bill proposed by the Conservatives. It comprises 300-odd pages and addresses over 70 different laws.

Here we go again. Bill C-31 is 360 pages long, amends 60 acts, and has almost 500 clauses. What is more, the bill includes a variety of measures that were never mentioned in the budget speech. As is typical of this government, the Conservatives are trying to force the bill through the House and the committee as fast as possible.

I know that the Conservatives have given notice of time allocation to cut down debate on the bill. I have seen that picture over and over on many different bills. I know I sound like a broken record, but no matter how many times this is talked about, the Conservatives just do not seem to get it. Time and time again, Conservatives demonstrate their inability to learn from their past mistakes. This will be their fifth straight omnibus bill. This is astounding to me. Canadians are not fooled by the government's tricks. They know the Conservatives are ramming through unfair legislation buried in hundreds of pages of this bill that is disguised as a budget.

How are we supposed to evaluate which bills MPs support or oppose, when the only choice they are given is to vote for this overarching legislation that contains all of them? There is nothing that ties these bills together. It makes absolutely no sense that they are lumped together, but here we are, being forced to vote on a mishmash of legislation. Not only that, but the speed at which the government is trying to push the bill through, and we saw the time allocation notice served today, means that entire sections of the bill have yet to be discussed in the House. They will not be discussed because of the time allocation that will be moved.

How are we supposed to present the views of our constituents when the Conservatives move time allocation and we cannot even speak? I am fortunate that I can speak, but many other colleagues in my caucus will not be able to speak to the bill, because the Conservatives are trying to shut down the debate on the bill.

It is crystal clear to me that the Conservatives remain committed to their omnibus bills and time allocation rather than to following due democratic process. However, it is not only the process that is being followed to ram the bill through the House that is objectionable. There are huge problems and omissions from the bill itself, as I have highlighted.

I talked about the needs in my community: the need for creating well-paying jobs, the need for reducing wait times and elective surgeries, the need for housing, and the need for crime prevention programs that would help make our communities safe. None of that stuff is here.

I could spend all night here talking about the issues with Bill C-31, but I want to start by talking about the economic situation in Canada right now. To be frank, the facts and figures do not paint a very cheery picture of Canada's economic situation. I am disappointed to say that the budget is not doing anything to address these problems.

The Canadian economy continues to underperform under this Conservative government. The Conservatives are offering no strategy to help unemployed Canadians. There are 1.3 million Canadians out of work, and there are 6.3 unemployed workers for every job available. I am not even sure if the jobs available are actually jobs that are available, because we know where the Conservatives get their facts. The Conservatives get their facts from Kijiji. We have seen that. They make up facts. If they cannot make up facts, they will go to Kijiji. Kijiji, for those people at home, is a website that one can buy a used tie on. One does not look for facts on jobs to validate what the Conservatives are saying.

Bill C-31 is basically inadequate. There are many flaws and omissions in it, and I have barely scraped the tip of the iceberg with my speech.

The Conservatives are again demonstrating that they are out of touch with the views of real Canadians. They are focusing their efforts instead on producing a do-nothing budget that ignores what Canadians need right now, and are in pursuit of a balanced budget during an election year. This is unacceptable. and Canadians deserve better.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for participating in the debate at this late hour. I would, however, take exception to many of his assertions, which are counter-factual.

One assertion in particular that I would like to rebut—and I know it is a popular and fun talking point that is always good for a chuckle—is the notion that the government's labour force information comes from one particular online job-posting service. That is ridiculous. In fact, the government primarily gets its labour market information from the labour force survey conducted by Statistics Canada.

I think the member was referring to a Conference Board of Canada study. It was conducted by that independent and highly regarded think tank and used 138 separate datasets, one of which was job postings on, yes, Kijiji. The Department of Finance then made reference to that Conference Board study. When it became clear to the Conference Board that some of the postings were double-posted on that one website, it removed the dataset from its study, so we are talking about one of 138 datasets in a Conference Board study to which the Department of Finance made reference.

While there is no general labour shortage in Canada, would the member not agree that we are facing gaps in some regions and industries and that we all need to work together to address those gaps?

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Employment and Social Development. It is good to see him this late at night, and I know he is hard-working.

My question for the minister is this: is the temporary foreign worker program fixed?

We know that it is broken. We know there have been many issues with the program over the last number of months and years. We have actually been pointing that out to him, so my questions to the Minister of Employment and Social Development are these: is the program fixed? When is it going to be fixed? Canadians want the answers.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, one part of the non-answer that we might have gotten is that within these 60 different pieces of legislation that would be changed by these 360 pages of the omnibus bill, there is something that deals with the temporary foreign worker program. I do not know if Conservatives actually know that.

The Conservatives went in and started to make amendments to the temporary foreign worker program, so there was an opportunity to make some of the changes that we hear small businesses and industries like the restaurant industry requesting, but they gave that opportunity up.

The Conservatives did not actually fix the temporary foreign worker program in this bill while the opportunity was there. Since they are moving an omnibus bill, one would have thought they would want to do something positive.

However, I have a very specific question for my friend.

One of the changes and amendments we have moved here tonight is with regard to the deal the Conservatives have signed with the U.S. government. This deal would deliver the personal banking information of up to a million Canadians. One of the provisions we have asked for, as a minimum, is that the banks be required to notify those Canadians when their personal private information is being relinquished to the IRS. This is one of the ideas we had at committee.

The Privacy Commissioner raised serious privacy concerns for Canadians whose personal information would be divulged to a foreign government. According to Statistics Canada, it would affect up to a million Canadians.

I wonder what my colleague thinks about that. Perhaps he can comment as well on the missed opportunity to actually fix the badly broken temporary foreign worker program.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yes, there was an opportunity to fix the temporary foreign worker program, and yes, the Minister of Employment and Social Development and the Conservative government have missed that opportunity. We have been asking for that for a number of years, trying to convince the government that there is a problem with the temporary foreign worker program. Unfortunately, they have not addressed it.

To answer the question on FATCA, yes, it is a huge issue in my community of Surrey North. There are many Canadian citizens who will be affected by it. This would affect their privacy, and I hope the government will take seriously some of the amendments we are offering in order to correct some of the problems with the bill.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to be here at this late hour on a Wednesday night. I congratulate all my colleagues from all sides of the House for still being here at 11:40 p.m. I will try to make it as lively as possible to keep them going.

I want to do a slight review of what we are doing here tonight. I know the viewing public at home is very interested. We are dealing with an implementation bill. There are two a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The budget that gets passed is really a policy document, and then the implementation bills actually take that information and turn it into actions, and those are done through those two implementation bills. That is what we are doing here today.

I have been here all day and all evening for the discussion and I have listened to some of the discussion about an omnibus bill. My colleague across the aisle just mentioned that the bill is 360 pages long. I happen to have it here with me, and he is absolutely right; it is 360 pages, in English and in French. Really, it is 200 pages in English. Then when we look at how it is printed in Canada, how bills are printed, we see it is in columns and there are two columns on a page. The columns have maybe 10 words across. It is really not that thick. I am very confident that the members opposite are smart enough and good enough readers to be able to read a couple of hundred pages of a bill.

The other really great thing about the way the system works is that, just in case members are busy and they cannot read the whole thing, all couple of hundred pages—if members are able to read it in both languages, I congratulate them, because I do not have that skill, unfortunately—at the beginning of all legislation, there is a legislative summary. The legislative summary for the bill is four pages long. I have the four pages here in front of me. We can go through and see the sections. We may read a section and say to ourselves that it makes sense. If we are on the opposition bench, we may not agree with it or, as we have heard today, there are certain sections that the opposition actually agrees with. They would not have to read over that section any more or study it further; they could just do it.

The other thing that happened with this implementation bill, which has been a practice of this government—I am not sure if it was a practice of previous governments—is that, when the implementation bill passes second reading, it gets split up into different committees to study. It is not all at finance.

For example, there was some discussion about the trademark clauses. I believe they went to the industry committee. That is where they were discussed. Witnesses came before the committee and there was a discussion.

Tonight we are at report stage. Amendments have been moved. I do believe there were no government amendments; I believe they were all amendments from the opposition benches, which is fair. There were a couple of hundred of them, I believe. When you first took the chair earlier this evening, Mr. Speaker—it seems like a long time ago, but it was earlier this evening—they were grouped. I think there are approximately 19 or 20 votes based on the groupings of the amendments, so as a House, once we have finished the discussion, we will come to vote on those amendments that are put forward by the opposition. I think it is only fair to say that I will be voting against those amendments, and I think most members on this side of the House will be voting against those amendments.

This is a confidence vote. This is not something members of Parliament can take lightly, and we are not. From listening to the speeches tonight, I think people are taking this implementation bill seriously and looking at the different issues.

One thing I do find a little bit ironic is that members will say that this omnibus bill is way too long, has too much stuff in it, and would change too many things. Then in the question and answer period, when they are asking a question of another individual who was speaking, they say, “There is nothing in here for this individual, or this group, or this organization”. We could imagine how big the budget bill would be if we put everything they have asked for in it. It would be as tall as I am. I am not that tall, but it would be a big bill if it were as tall as I.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!