Bill C-59 (Historical)

Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 21, 2015 and other measures

Part 1 implements income tax measures and related measures proposed or referenced in the April 21, 2015 budget. In particular, it
(a) reduces the required minimum amount that must be withdrawn annually from a registered retirement income fund, a variable benefit money purchase registered pension plan or a pooled registered pension plan;
(b) ensures that amounts received on account of the new critical injury benefit and the new family caregiver relief benefit under the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act are exempt from income tax;
(c) decreases the small business tax rate and makes consequential adjustments to the dividend gross-up factor and dividend tax credit;
(d) increases the lifetime capital gains exemption to $1 million for qualified farm and fishing properties;
(e) introduces the home accessibility tax credit;
(f) extends, for one year, the mineral exploration tax credit for flow-through share investors;
(g) extends, for five years, the tax deferral regime that applies to patronage dividends paid to members by an eligible agricultural cooperative in the form of eligible shares;
(h) extends until the end of 2018 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;
(i) permits certain foreign charitable foundations to be registered as qualified donees;
(j) increases the annual contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts to $10,000;
(k) creates a new quarterly remitter category for certain small new employers; and
(l) provides an accelerated capital cost allowance for investment in machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and processing.
Part 2 implements various measures for families.
Division 1 of Part 2 implements the income tax measures announced on October 30, 2014. It amends the Income Tax Act to increase the maximum annual amounts deductible for child care expenses, to repeal the child tax credit and to introduce the family tax cut credit that is modified to include transferred education-related amounts in the calculation of that credit as announced in the April 21, 2015 budget.
Division 2 of Part 2 amends the Universal Child Care Benefit Act to, effective January 1, 2015, enhance the universal child care benefit by providing $160 per month for children under six years of age and by providing a new benefit of $60 per month for children six years of age or older but under 18 years of age.
It also amends the Children’s Special Allowances Act to, effective January 1, 2015, increase the special allowance supplement for children under six years of age from $100 to $160 per month and introduce a special allowance supplement in the amount of $60 per month for children six years of age or older but under 18 years of age.
Part 3 enacts and amends several Acts in order to implement various measures.
Division 1 of Part 3 enacts the Federal Balanced Budget Act. That Act provides for certain measures that are to apply in the case of a projected or recorded deficit. It also provides for the appearance of the Minister of Finance before a House of Commons committee to explain the reasons for the deficit and present a plan for a return to balanced budgets.
Division 2 of Part 3 enacts the Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act in order to establish a mechanism to protect information in respect of judicial proceedings in relation to decisions made by the designated minister under the Canadian Passport Order to prevent the commission of a terrorism offence or for the purposes of the national security of Canada or a foreign country or state. It also makes a related amendment to the Canada Evidence Act.
Division 3 of Part 3 amends the Industrial Design Act, the Patent Act and the Trade-marks Act to, among other things, provide for extensions of time limits in unforeseen circumstances and provide the authority to make regulations respecting the correction of obvious errors. It also amends the Patent Act and the Trade-marks Act to protect communications between patent or trade-mark agents and their clients in the same way as communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege.
Division 4 of Part 3 amends the Canada Labour Code to increase the maximum amount of compassionate care leave to 28 weeks and to extend to 52 weeks the period within which that leave may be taken. It also amends the Employment Insurance Act to, among other things, increase to 26 the maximum number of weeks of compassionate care benefits and to extend to 52 weeks the period within which those benefits may be paid.
Division 5 of Part 3 amends the Copyright Act to extend the term of copyright protection for a published sound recording and a performer’s performance fixed in a published sound recording from 50 years to 70 years after publication. However, the term is capped at 100 years after the first fixation of, respectively, the sound recording or the performer’s performance in a sound recording.
Division 6 of Part 3 amends the Export Development Act to add a development finance function to the current mandate of Export Development Canada (EDC), which will enable EDC to provide development financing and other forms of development support in a manner consistent with Canada’s international development priorities. The amendments also provide that the Minister for International Trade is to consult the Minister for International Development on matters related to EDC’s development finance function.
Division 7 of Part 3 amends the Canada Labour Code in order to, among other things, provide that Parts II and III of that Act apply to persons who are not employees but who perform for employers activities whose primary purpose is to enable those persons to acquire knowledge or experience, set out circumstances in which Part III of that Act does not apply to those persons and provide for regulations to be made to apply and adapt any provision of that Part to them.
Division 8 of Part 3 amends the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act to, among other things, provide that the Chief Actuary is not permitted to distinguish between members of either House of Parliament when fixing contribution rates under that Act.
Division 9 of Part 3 amends the National Energy Board Act to extend the maximum duration of licences for the exportation of natural gas that are issued under that Act.
Division 10 of Part 3 amends the Parliament of Canada Act to establish an office to be called the Parliamentary Protective Service, which is to be responsible for all matters with respect to physical security throughout the parliamentary precinct and Parliament Hill and is to be under the responsibility of the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Division provides that the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness must enter into an arrangement to have the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide physical security services throughout that precinct and Parliament Hill. It also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Division 11 of Part 3 amends the definition “insured participant” in the Employment Insurance Act to extend eligibility for assistance under employment benefits under Part II of that Act, while providing that the definition as it reads before that Division comes into force may continue to apply for the purposes of an agreement with a government under section 63 of that Act that is entered into after that Division comes into force. It also contains transitional provisions and makes consequential amendments.
Division 12 of Part 3 amends the Canada Small Business Financing Act to modify the definition “small business” in order to increase the maximum amount of estimated gross annual revenue referred to in that definition. It also amends provisions of that Act that relate to eligibility criteria for borrowers for the purpose of financing the purchase or improvement of real property or immovables, in order to increase the maximum outstanding loan amount.
Division 13 of Part 3 amends the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to extend the application of that Act to organizations set out in Schedule 4 in respect of personal information described in that Schedule.
Division 14 of Part 3 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to require the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada to disclose designated information to provincial securities regulators in certain circumstances.
Division 15 of Part 3 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to
(a) clarify and expand the application of certain provisions requiring the collection of biometric information so that those requirements apply not only to applications for a temporary resident visa, work permit or study permit but may also apply to other types of applications, claims and requests made under that Act that are specified in the regulations; and
(b) authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to administer that Act using electronic means, including by allowing the making of an automated decision and by requiring the making of an application, request or claim, the submitting of documents or the providing of information, using electronic means.
Division 16 of Part 3 amends the First Nations Fiscal Management Act to accelerate and streamline participation in the scheme established under that Act, reduce the regulatory burden on participating first nations and strengthen the confidence of capital markets and investors in respect of that scheme.
Division 17 of Part 3 amends the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act to
(a) add a purpose statement to that Act;
(b) improve the transition process of Canadian Forces members and veterans to civilian life by allowing the Minister of Veterans Affairs to make decisions in respect of applications made by those members for services, assistance and compensation under that Act before their release from the Canadian Forces and to provide members and veterans with information and guidance before and after their release;
(c) establish the retirement income security benefit to provide eligible veterans and survivors with a continued financial benefit after the age of 65 years;
(d) establish the critical injury benefit to provide eligible Canadian Forces members and veterans with lump-sum compensation for severe, sudden and traumatic injuries or acute diseases that are service related, regardless of whether they result in permanent disability; and
(e) establish the family caregiver relief benefit to provide eligible veterans who require a high level of ongoing care from an informal caregiver with an annual grant to recognize that caregiver’s support.
The Division also amends the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act as a consequence of the establishment of the critical injury benefit.
Division 18 of Part 3 amends the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act to, among other things, provide that the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act do not apply with respect to records and copies of records that are to be destroyed in accordance with the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act. The non-application of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act is retroactive to October 25, 2011, the day on which the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act was introduced into Parliament.
Division 19 of Part 3 amends the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Bank Act, the Insurance Companies Act and the Cooperative Credit Associations Act to modernize, clarify and enhance the protection of prescribed supervisory information that relates to federally regulated financial institutions.
Division 20 of Part 3 authorizes the Treasury Board to establish and modify, despite the Public Service Labour Relations Act, terms and conditions of employment related to the sick leave of employees who are employed in the core public administration.
It also authorizes the Treasury Board to establish and modify, despite that Act, a short-term disability program, and it requires the Treasury Board to establish a committee to make joint recommendations regarding any modifications to that program.
Finally, it authorizes the Treasury Board to modify, despite that Act, the existing public service long-term disability programs in respect of the period during which employees are not entitled to receive benefits.

Report Stage

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are two things. First, with respect to transfer payments, they are on an escalator and will continue to be so, both the social transfer tax as well as the health transfer tax.

With respect to interns, as I mentioned in my speech, it is about coming to a balance. It is extremely appropriate to the point that the member made that individuals do receive payment once they have reached a tipping point.

The budget is very clear. We have a new six-point plan. Individuals who are at school and receiving vocational training would continue as they have in the past, but now would have all the additional protections. They would remain unpaid because that is part of their educational process.

For those who enter the workplace, we are setting a maximum of four months of unpaid internship and then an employer must move forward ensuring that those individuals receive a salary.

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

Mr. Speaker, as members in this place will know, I am deeply disturbed by the number of measures buried in Bill C-59 that are dangerous for this country and that are extremely anti-democratic, particularly the changes being made post facto, retroactively, to access to information.

I had initially welcomed the changes to protect interns, until I saw the submission from the Canadian Intern Association and realized how much we are failing interns. I asked the hon. minister if she had reviewed the testimony from this organization. Its members certainly are very concerned. I will just quote from their brief:

We submit that the amendments to the Canada Labour Code proposed in Division 7 offer inadequate workplace rights to students, interns, unpaid persons and entry-level employees working for federally regulated employers.

These are some of our most vulnerable and precarious workers, and we are not protecting them.

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned before in this place, it is extremely important for all Canadians to look at what we have put forward in the budget. All portions of part 2 of the Canada Labour Code, that is, occupational health and safety coverage for any employee, are now being extended to interns.

With respect to part 3 of the code, labour standards, that is being reviewed, as requested, by individuals across the country to make sure that we cover all the labour standards that would be appropriate for interns. Obviously, people who are not being paid do not require paid leave, and we do not include that.

Those are the types of things we are looking forward to discussing with respect to labour standards to make sure that they are all-inclusive.

As I have mentioned before, we encourage the internship association to please read the bill and look at it. We did extensive consultations all over the country. The parliamentary secretary from British Columbia did an outstanding job of speaking to young Canadians, to older individuals who are transitioning in work, and to new Canadians about how important internships are. That is what this bill encompasses to make sure that all of those protections that have to be afforded, all occupational health and safety coverage in part 2 of the code, cover all interns in the country.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question in regard to the myth that the Conservatives have a balanced budget. In fact, when they first took office, they inherited a surplus, and they turned that surplus into a deficit within two years, prior to the recession. Ever since then, the Conservatives have not had a balanced budget. They have added billions of dollars to Canada's debt. Here we are months away from the election, the magic wand goes, and now they have a balanced budget. We will not know whether it is actually balanced until next year.

Does the minister believe that she is going to be able to fool Canadians by selling wholesale GM shares for $2 billion and going into the contingency fund and saying that they have a balanced budget? Does she believe that this is something Canadians are actually going to believe?

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the budget is balanced. The member opposite seems to believe that the Liberal Party would be able to deal with the economy of the country. This is a group that wants to raise taxes, and we are lowering them. These people want to eliminate jobs by raising taxes, and we are creating them.

The budget is balanced. It is that simple.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak to the 2015 budget. There is consensus that this budget is less than stellar. It is not future-oriented. It does not attempt to make the investments needed to improve our economic productivity for the long term, nor does it make the necessary long-term investments to keep our health care system viable.

Before I address these two points, I would like to comment on the government's plans in the budget for targeted benefit pension plans. The government intends to create a legislative and regulatory framework to impose this pension model on private businesses under federal jurisdiction, including airlines, telecommunications companies and banks.

A few weeks ago, some Air Canada retirees came to see me in my riding office. They are very worried about this Conservative government plan. If it goes through, people who currently collect defined benefits through their pension plan could be subject to this new pension model under which benefits may vary depending on the financial state of the pension plan. I am against that idea.

As I said, many of my constituents worked for banks, telecommunications companies such as Bell Canada and airlines such as Air Canada, and they are very concerned about the government's plan.

I really think the government is making a grave error in trying to impose a model for target benefit plans on private sector companies in federal jurisdiction. As we know, these plans would involve benefits that could vary, depending on the state of the pension plan.

Many of my constituents receive pensions from companies like Air Canada. These pensions are not indexed. They have been receiving these pensions, in many cases, for 20 years. They retired 20 years ago. They have seen their purchasing power erode, and now they are worried that their pension benefits, which they had assumed would be stable, could fluctuate up and down.

I do not know why the government wants to impose this model on private sector companies in federal jurisdiction. They are companies that are quite solid, like banks and telecommunications firms, like Bell. Even the airlines are doing well.

I would note that some provinces are looking at target benefit plans because they make life easier for companies that are in financial trouble and that have pension plan deficits. However, I would note that in the province of Quebec, the government is imposing this model only on firms in the pulp and paper industry, which we know is an industry that is going through hard times. In addition, it imposes the model only on companies in that industry that are subject to an order under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

I understand the benefit of this model for a company that is in financial trouble, like a company in the pulp and paper industry, for example, that is in such trouble that it is under some kind of bankruptcy protection, but I do not see the logic of imposing this model on companies like banks, telecommunication companies, and companies like Air Canada that are doing very well. I do not think this is a good initiative on the part of the government, and that is one reason I am voting against this budget.

On the subject of TFSAs, we know that they are good vehicles for saving for retirement. They make a lot of sense, but as I was listening to the government's proposal for increasing the contribution ceiling, I thought back to my constituents. Many of them have teenagers in high school. They are thinking about their children's education. Some of them are struggling with debt, and if they got any extra money, say for example if we had a Liberal government and parents received enhanced child benefit payments because of our very wise and creative plan, what would they do with that money? It would make more sense for them to invest that money in an RESP than in a TFSA, and I will explain why.

If they put the money in an RESP, they get a higher rate of return. They get a 30% rate of return the first year, because they get a cash grant from the federal government, instituted by the Paul Martin government, of 20% on every dollar invested in an RESP, and they get an additional cash grant from the Quebec government of 10%. If parents have a teenager aged 16 or 17 who is about to enter university, and the parents get some extra cash because of the Liberal tax cut, then it makes more economic sense to put it in an RESP than in a TFSA. Even if it were in the RESP for two years, the annual rate of return would be 15%, which I would say is quite good under those circumstances.

These are just some of the thoughts I have had in reaction to this budget, and I appreciate having had the opportunity to address the matter.

[The Deputy Speaker]

It being 5:45 p.m., pursuant to an order made earlier today, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the report stage of the bill now before the House.

The question is on Motion No. 1. A vote on this motion also applies to Motion No. 3.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Deputy Speaker]

In my opinion, the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

The division on the motion stands deferred. The recorded division will also apply to Motion No. 3.

The question now is on Motion No. 2. A vote on this motion also applies to Motions Nos. 10 and 148.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.