Bill C-15 (Historical)

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1.

An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 22, 2016 and other measures

Part 1 implements certain income tax measures proposed in the March 22, 2016 budget by
(a) eliminating the education tax credit;
(b) eliminating the textbook tax credit;
(c) exempting from taxable income amounts received as rate assistance under the Ontario Electricity Support Program;
(d) maintaining the small business tax rate at 10.‍5% for the 2016 and subsequent taxation years and making consequential adjustments to the dividend gross-up factor and dividend tax credit;
(e) increasing the maximum deduction available under the northern residents deduction;
(f) eliminating the children’s arts tax credit;
(g) eliminating the family tax cut credit;
(h) replacing the Canada child tax benefit and universal child care benefit with the new Canada child benefit;
(i) eliminating the child fitness tax credit;
(j) introducing the school supplies tax credit;
(k) extending, for one year, the mineral exploration tax credit for flow-through share investors;
(l) restoring the labour-sponsored venture capital corporations tax credit for purchases of shares of provincially registered labour-sponsored venture capital corporations for the 2016 and subsequent taxation years; and
(m) introducing changes consequential to the introduction of the new 33% individual tax rate.
Part 1 implements other income tax measures confirmed in the March 22, 2016 budget by
(a) amending the anti-avoidance rules in the Income Tax Act that prevent the conversion of capital gains into tax-deductible intercorporate dividends;
(b) qualifying certain costs associated with undertaking environmental studies and community consultations as Canadian exploration expenses;
(c) ensuring that profits from the insurance of Canadian risks remain taxable in Canada;
(d) ensuring that the dividend rental arrangement rules under the Income Tax Act apply where there is a synthetic equity arrangement;
(e) providing specific tax rules in respect of the commercialization of the Canadian Wheat Board, including a tax deferral for eligible farmers;
(f) permitting registered charities and registered Canadian amateur athletic associations to hold limited partnership interests;
(g) providing an exemption to the withholding tax requirements for payments by qualifying non-resident employers to qualifying non-resident employees;
(h) limiting the circumstances in which the repeated failure to report income penalty will apply;
(i) permitting the sharing of taxpayer information within the Canada Revenue Agency to facilitate the collection of certain non-tax debts; and
(j) permitting the sharing of taxpayer information with the Office of the Chief Actuary.
Part 2 implements certain goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) measures proposed in the March 22, 2016 budget by
(a) adding insulin pens, insulin pen needles and intermittent urinary catheters to the list of GST/HST zero-rated medical and assistive devices;
(b) clarifying that GST/HST generally applies to supplies of purely cosmetic procedures provided by all suppliers, including registered charities;
(c) relieving tax to ensure that when a charity makes a taxable supply of property or services in exchange for a donation and an income tax receipt may be issued for a portion of the donation, only the value of the property or services supplied is subject to GST/HST;
(d) ensuring that interest earned in respect of certain deposits is not included in determining whether a person is considered to be a financial institution for GST/HST purposes; and
(e) clarifying the treatment of imported reinsurance services under the GST/HST imported supply rules for financial institutions.
Part 2 also implements other GST/HST measures confirmed in the March 22, 2016 budget by
(a) adding feminine hygiene products to the list of GST/HST zero-rated products; and
(b) permitting the sharing of taxpayer information in respect of non-tax debts within the Canada Revenue Agency under certain federal and provincial government programs and in respect of certain programs where information sharing is currently permitted under the Income Tax Act.
Part 3 implements certain excise measures proposed in the March 22, 2016 budget by
(a) ensuring that excise tax relief for diesel fuel used as heating oil or to generate electricity is targeted to specific instances; and
(b) enhancing certain security and collection provisions in the Excise Act, 2001.
Part 3 also implements other excise measures confirmed in the March 22, 2016 budget by permitting the sharing of taxpayer information in respect of non-tax debts within the Canada Revenue Agency under certain federal and provincial government programs and in respect of certain programs where information sharing is currently permitted under the Income Tax Act.
Division 1 of Part 4 repeals the Federal Balanced Budget Act.
Division 2 of Part 4 amends the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act to, among other things,
(a) replace “permanent impairment allowance” with “career impact allowance”;
(b) replace “totally and permanently incapacitated” with “diminished earning capacity”;
(c) increase the percentage in the formula used to calculate the earnings loss benefit;
(d) specify when a disability award becomes payable and clarify the formula used to calculate the amount of a disability award;
(e) increase the amounts of a disability award; and
(f) increase the amount of a death benefit.
In addition, it contains transitional provisions that provide, among other things, that the Minister of Veterans Affairs must pay, to a person who received a disability award or a death benefit under that Act before April 1, 2017, an amount that represents the increase in the amount of the disability award or the death benefit, as the case may be. It also makes consequential amendments to the Children of Deceased Veterans Education Assistance Act, the Pension Act and the Income Tax Act.
Division 3 of Part 4 amends the sunset provisions of certain Acts governing federal financial institutions to extend by two years, namely, from March 29, 2017 to March 29, 2019, the period during which those institutions may carry on business.
Division 4 of Part 4 amends the Bank Act to facilitate the continuance of local cooperative credit societies as federal credit unions by granting the Minister of Finance the authority to provide transitional procedural exemptions, as well as a loan guarantee.
Division 5 of Part 4 amends the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act to, among other things, broaden the Corporation’s powers to temporarily control or own a domestic systemically important bank and to convert certain shares and liabilities of such a bank into common shares.
It also amends the Bank Act to allow the designation of domestic systemically important banks by the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and to require such banks to maintain a minimum capacity to absorb losses.
Lastly, it makes consequential amendments to the Financial Administration Act, the Winding-up and Restructuring Act and the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.
Division 6 of Part 4 amends the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act to change the membership of the committee established under that Act so that the Chairperson of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation is replaced by that Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer. It also amends several Acts to replace references to that Chairperson with references to that Chief Executive Officer.
Division 7 of Part 4 amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to authorize an additional payment to be made to a territory, in order to take into account the amount of the territorial formula financing payment that would have been paid to that territory for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2016, if that amount had been determined using the recalculated amount determined to be the gross expenditure base for that fiscal year.
Division 8 of Part 4 amends the Financial Administration Act to restrict the circumstances in which the Governor in Council may authorize the borrowing of money without legislative approval.
Division 9 of Part 4 amends the Old Age Security Act to increase the single rate of the guaranteed income supplement for the lowest-income pensioners by up to $947 annually and to repeal section 2.‍2 of that Act, which increases the age of eligibility to receive a benefit.
Division 10 of Part 4 amends the Special Import Measures Act to provide that a finding by the President of the Canada Border Services Agency of an insignificant margin of dumping or an insignificant amount of subsidy in respect of goods imported into Canada will no longer result in the termination of a trade remedy investigation prior to the President’s preliminary determination. It also provides that expiry reviews may be initiated from a date that is closer to the expiry date of an anti-dumping or countervailing measure and makes amendments related to that new time period.
Division 11 of Part 4 amends the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 to combine the authorities for bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements into one authority for federal-provincial agreements, and to clarify that federal-provincial agreements may permit the application of provincial legislation with respect to a pension plan.
Division 12 of Part 4 amends the Employment Insurance Act to, among other things,
(a) increase, until July 8, 2017, the maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid to certain claimants in certain regions;
(b) eliminate the category of claimants who are new entrants and re-entrants; and
(c) reduce to one week the length of the waiting period during which claimants are not entitled to benefits.
Division 13 of Part 4 amends the Canada Marine Act to allow the Minister of Canadian Heritage to make payments to Canada Place Corporation for certain celebrations.
Division 14 of Part 4 amends the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act to authorize the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs to acquire the shares of PPP Canada Inc. on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada. It also sets out that the appropriate Minister, as defined in the Financial Administration Act, holds those shares and authorizes that appropriate Minister to conduct, with the Governor in Council’s approval, certain transactions relating to PPP Canada Inc. Finally, it authorizes PPP Canada Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries to sell, with the Governor in Council’s approval, their assets in certain circumstances.
Division 15 of Part 4 amends the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology Act to modify the process that leads to the Governor in Council’s appointment of persons to the board of directors of the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology by eliminating the role of the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of the Environment as well as the consultative role of the Minister of Industry from that process. It also amends the Budget Implementation Act, 2007 to provide that a sum may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Foundation on the requisition of the Minister of Industry and to clarify the maximum amount of that sum.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Mr. Speaker, hon. members, colleagues, members of the opposition and friends, it is a privilege and an honour to address you here today, in this noble institution, regarding the first budget of this new government, which was tabled by the Minister of Finance on Tuesday, March 22.

All my colleagues were here when the Minister of Finance presented the details of this budget, the fiscal blueprint that will take great strides toward a better and brighter future for Canada. I am proud of this budget that addresses the concerns of everyday Canadians and especially the people in the riding of Vimy, the people that we who sit in this House have to thank for the great responsibilities they bestowed upon us to represent their interests. Every day, I am grateful for this privilege, as we all should be, and therefore I fully intend to honour that privilege with steadfast and genuine service to my constituents.

This budget does just that. It is a progressive budget with attainable goals that will be felt positively by Canadians of the middle class. I am delighted to be able to speak directly to the positive direction the government has been taking with respect to fiscal and social policy, which will begin to redefine what it means to assist the middle class and those who wish to become a part of it.

The middle class is the backbone of our economy and so the government has devised a budget for those people. They are the everyday citizens who work hard so that one day they can pay off their debts, own a home, raise their children and put them through school, save for retirement, and still have enough money and time for leisure and generosity. The middle class works tirelessly for this country, so it is about time that we got to work and had a government that works tirelessly for the middle class. With this budget, we begin to restore hope to the middle class and reinvigorate the economy.

The combination of long-overdue investments in infrastructure, re-engineering of social and economic policy, and commitment to providing stimulus and support wherever it is needed is an ambitious concoction of progressive policy initiatives that will act as a catalyst to bring about the kind of relief needed to energize our economy and our middle class. Through several initiatives, middle-class and low-income Canadians will have relief from their financial burdens and receive extended benefits in areas where they need them most.

Canadians who are single, partnered, or have families of their own will see positive fiscal changes putting more money directly in their pockets. One of the government's most crucial promises was to adjust the federal income tax structure. We kept that promise as soon as we took office by lowering taxes by 1.5% for middle-class Canadians earning between $45,282 and $90,563.

This cost was offset by raising taxes for the wealthiest Canadians so that we could offer help to those who need it most. This tax break represents up to $670 per person or $1,340 per couple per year. Thousands of people across Canada and in my riding of Vimy in particular will benefit directly from this tax cut.

With the creation of the new Canada child benefit, the government is offering greater benefits to Canadian families and, again, especially those who need it most. Lower-income families will see a greater share of the benefit to assist with the greater financial burden that comes with raising children. Families earning $30,000 or less will receive the maximum of this new tax-free benefit, which means more money in the pockets of the Canadians who need it most.

Helping to keep 300,000 Canadian children out of poverty should always be a top priority for governments. Re-evaluating and prescribing newer, more efficient policies is the key to success for tomorrow’s generation. By supporting and investing in Canadian families now, we are opening up new doors for our children that may have previously been inaccessible.

We may find ourselves in old age burdened with difficult choices. Our elderly years, while heavily contingent on the plans made in our youth and adult life, are often subject to changes we could not have foreseen such as the death of a loved one, early retirement because of health that eviscerates our pension, or perhaps a life of hardship that left us without much in the way of support, and little financial stability outside of government assistance. Life does not smile on us all the time.

After a life of hard work, one should be able to retire with dignity. The budget has made some of the most extensive enhancements and policy adjustments that would give seniors the assurance and security they deserve. The previous administration's decision to trim the OAS and GIS, among many other cuts and changes that affected our seniors, was a brash and unnecessary decision doing a great disservice to them. This was at a time when, given the realities of the rising cost of living, seniors who hovered around the poverty line and undeniable projections, depicting the growth our aging population in Canada, we should have been investing in their long-term prosperity, not cutting their lifelines and watching the very people who helped build our country fade into destitution and obscurity.

On September 29, 2015, it was announced for the first time ever that in Canada there were more Canadians aged 65 and over than there were Canadians aged 15 and younger. Canada had nearly six million seniors when that announcement was made. In 21 years' time, it is expected that this number will increase by 50%. Without all of the ongoing changes, both the reversal of decisions by the previous administration and the new implementations by this government, we are taking proactive measures to ensure fair treatment and an acceptable standard of living for our seniors.

The additions made to affordable housing in the budget designed specifically for seniors, the increase to the GIS, restoring the age of eligibility for OAS, GIS and allowances and our government's intention to work with the provinces and territories to expand the CPP, and increase access to home care, these are the kinds of investments we need to be making in our country.

I chose to speak about these particular aspects of the budget today because of the positive impact they would have on my constituents. I believe the direction we are heading is the right one. I have met with countless Canadians and listened to their concerns. They want a government that looks out for all Canadians. They want a plan that helps the entire country move forward, not just one segment of society. Every one of the points from the budget I have mentioned today will help thousands of people in my riding of Vimy alone. It will also help millions of Canadians across the country for years to come.

I have been only able to scrape the surface of what the budget aims to achieve. It offers assurance for families, dignity for seniors, respect for our veterans, a future for our youth, renewed hope for aboriginals, a humanitarian global presence, sustainable environmental policies, fairness and equality.

When middle-class Canadians have more money in their pockets to save, invest, and grow the economy, it is all Canadians who benefit.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the member about the budget, and more specifically about schedule 1 and the Canada child benefit. This is a topic I have raised with other members.

In the government's budget, it appears that the amount for the Canada child benefit will drop starting in the 2018-19 fiscal year, going from $22.8 billion to $21.8 billion.

Does the member know why her government will reduce the amount allocated to the Canada child benefit in its budget by $1 billion over four years?

Is it because the benefit will not be adjusted for inflation? Is it because the government thinks that families' incomes will increase so much that they will not be eligible for the benefit?

Can the member tell us why the government is cutting $1 billion from this benefit?

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague opposite for his excellent question.

What we actually did is this: before the election, we listened to Canadians, and during the election campaign, we promised to invest in families, in the middle class, and in our children.

We therefore made changes to the Canada child benefit so that it is fairer, automatic, and tax-free and benefits all children. More importantly, it will lift 300,000 children out of poverty. The fact is, that is what we promised and that is what we have done.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to mention to my colleague that I am always a little surprised to see how people join a party, get elected, and become part of a government that made such huge promises, particularly in Quebec.

I cannot help but scratch my head, thinking that, clearly, governing is about making choices. Her government specifically chose not to support Bombardier and small businesses, although it promised to make evidence-based decisions. Knowing where her riding is located, I am sure that many people there who work in the aerospace industry will be asking their MP how she can support such an initiative.

An omnibus bill like this one certainly muzzles the opposition, but it also muzzles members like herself, who do not have much say in the matter and who will obviously have a hard time explaining this to their constituents.

I would like to hear her thoughts on that.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

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

As I said earlier, we listened to Canadians before the election. We held round tables and decided to invest in families for the middle class. With respect to Bombardier in particular, we did not break our promises. We are in talks to garner better offers and support Bombardier. The fact is that we are waiting for the negotiations and will update the House on those negotiations in due time.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the passion and strong advocacy the member expresses, whether in here, in caucus, or wherever she might be.

Could the member reflect on the importance of the health care accord and how our government is working toward achieving that? All Canadians want to see us demonstrate leadership on this, and we have. There are $36 billion, a record high amount, going toward health care this year.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from this side of the House.

During the campaign, we promised to invest in families, the economy, and infrastructure. We also talked about health, which is under provincial jurisdiction. We promised huge investments to help people, to reduce wait times, for mental health, and for seniors. That is what we promised before the election, and that is what we will do.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Anthony Rota]

It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 38, to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, National Defence; the hon. member for Sherbrooke, Canada Revenue Agency; the hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Foreign Affairs.

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of the good people of my riding. I thank them for the confidence they have placed in me to be their elected representative, and I in return promise to do my best to protect their interests.

People in my riding are concerned over the contents of Bill C-15, which implements most of the government's first federal budget. They are concerned about the huge, never-ending deficits contained in the budget and the legacy it leaves for their families.

I am proud of the Conservative government that left a budget surplus. In fact the debt-to-GDP ratio was lower than it was when we got in, despite experiencing the greatest global recession since the Great Depression. We balanced the budget, running a $1.9-billion surplus in 2014-15. The books were also $600 million in surplus when we left office in October 2015, which was confirmed by the non-partisan parliamentary budget office. We gave Canada a healthy financial balance sheet with rising revenues that could have been used to pay for the Conservative small business tax cut that was reversed by the government.

The difference between Conservative debt versus Liberal debt is that Conservatives will go into debt like a person getting a mortgage on a home, eventually owning a home and having a place to live while paying off the mortgage. The Liberal budget is like someone going into debt by using their credit card to buy groceries without the funds to make the minimum monthly payment on the credit card.

Under Conservative budgets, eventually the individuals own their homes. Under the Liberals budget Canadians are never expected to pay off the mortgage and go hungry. It is left to the next generation to keep paying the mortgage on the family home.

A budget document is supposed to inspire confidence in an economy. Only by inspiring confidence will consumers loosen their purse strings and entrepreneurs invest in their businesses. Unfortunately for Canadians, investors spoke with their actions before the Minister of Finance rose in the House to deliver his first uninspiring budget.

There is a profound lack of confidence in the government. That is evident from the day it was elected. These are the science-based facts. According to Stats Canada, in the fourth quarter of 2015, which was after the 2015 federal election, billions of dollars had been transferred out of the country by Canadian investors. This represents the largest recorded flight of capital since records began to be kept, stretching back before the Great Depression. For the first time, Canadians are net creditors to the United States, an unprecedented occurrence.

It would appear well-connected insiders got all their cash out of Canada while the going was good. What that means for Canadians is that those private investment dollars are not available to create Canadian jobs, forcing Canada to further increase the national deficit while becoming more indebted to foreigners to replace the lost capital.

In another development that is causing a lack of confidence in the government, Canada has sold off all its official gold holdings. The Bank of Canada on February 23, 2016, showed gold reserves at zero. This is in stark contrast with other developed countries that have seen their central banks become net buyers of gold since 2010. Canada now stands as the only G7 nation that does not hold at least 100 tonnes of gold in its official reserves. Out of 188 member countries in the International Monetary Fund, 100 countries hold gold as part of their monetary assets. Canada is now among the 88 countries that have no gold, countries such as Angola, Belize, and Tonga. Are these coincidences or a sign that Canada is headed for financial disaster?

Not since the disastrous budget of former finance minister Allan J. MacEachen, when five-year mortgage rates spiked to over 21%, have Canadians been more apprehensive about their own personal financial security.

It has to be a Canadian record for breaking promises. The first budget deficit is not $10 billion each of the first three years of the mandate as promised. It jumped to $30 billion each of the first three years with no plans to get out of debt and create jobs, if Canadians can believe the $30-billion annual figure. Is it really much higher?

No economist or institution recommended running deficits to finance government waste. In fact, most of the new spending in this budget has nothing to do with promoting economic growth. Any spending on infrastructure is a holdover from Conservative budgets. It was a budget intended to buy votes with the people's money based on election promises, promises that were made to be broken.

Is Canada preparing for a financial disaster? Are savings protected? Those are the questions now being asked of this uninspiring budget that is eroding investor and consumer confidence.

According to the former non-partisan parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, the budget is heavy on spending programs for government consumption and lacking in details, including when the federal budget would return to balance, which is how our Conservative government left the nation's finances. “It could be better in transparency...it's kind of a budget without a fiscal plan”, according to Page, who also said, “I think there’s going to be pressure to raise taxes with this kind of spending in the budget.”

Higher taxes drive down consumption and investment. This in turn chokes growth and leads to lower tax revenue, which in turn worsens an already out of control debt problem, and so it goes in a vicious cycle that leads to the need to keep raising taxes, credit downgrades, further loss of investor confidence beyond what this budget has already caused, more job losses, and the inevitable deep cuts to things like health care and defence spending that Canadians suffered from when Paul Martin was finance minister.

The non-partisan parliamentary budget officer observed that this is the least transparent budget, certainly when compared to Conservative budgets or even previous Paul Martin budgets.

An example of that lack of transparency is the bank recapitalization bail-in scheme, proposed in division 5, part 4, of Bill C-15, which is page 223 of the budget document. It has seniors, among others, worried. It allows the government to convert a bank's eligible long-term debt into common shares in order to recapitalize the bank. In addition to being concerned about bank deposits, any retirement savings that included the bank shares would be exposed as well.

Canadians entrust their savings to the chartered banks with the expectation of being able to access those savings when they need their money. I know that the people in my riding do not expect their savings to be redirected into common stock when a bank is in trouble. Canadians may use banks for long-term savings or to park money temporarily in what they thought was a safe place, for example, when they sell their home or a family business.

The Liberal government is scaring seniors about the safety of bank deposits. The question has to be asked.

A preliminary proposal was made by former finance minister James Flaherty regarding the charter bank solvency rules. However, under our previous Conservative government's plan, bank deposits were protected from seizure. In addition to financing the federal spending spree, Canada's banks are holding billions of dollars in debts from the oil sands. The depressed price of oil has already caused tens of thousands of Canadians to lose their jobs. Internationally, there are at least five countries with oil-depressed economies that are teetering on insolvency.

Another example of the lack of transparency referred to by the non-partisan parliamentary budget officer is the decision of the federal government to cover up the costs to Canadian taxpayers of the Ontario “greed” energy act. The greed energy act was brought in by the disgraced former government of Dalton McGuinty, and continues to drive electricity prices in the province of Ontario higher and higher. One of the consequences of that piece of misguided extremist-driven policy is the energy poverty that is now a fact of life in the province of Ontario.

It is important to point out to Canadian taxpayers that part 1 of Bill C-15 implements certain income tax measures proposed in the March 22, 2016, budget by exempting from taxable income amounts received as rate assistance under the Ontario electricity support program. The Ontario electricity support program was brought in as an indirect tax levied on all electricity consumers to provide rate assistance for people who cannot afford to pay their electricity bills. Of all the issues that I am contacted on, the cost of electricity in Ontario draws the most complaints. We call this the Liberal policy of “heat or eat” in Ontario. Federal taxpayers are expected to pick up the costs of this budget tax measure.

What I predicted before the last election is now happening, as we can see in Bill C-15. I predicted that Canadian taxpayers would end up with part of the bill for Ontario's policy disasters. That was predictable because the same policy advisers in Queen's Park, who wrote the greed energy act and fled Toronto, are now hiding in Ottawa as the most senior advisers of the federal Liberal Party. The cozy relationship between the Prime Minister and the Ontario premier is bad for all taxpayers, just as I warned Canadians before the last election.

Nowhere in the federal budget do we see a line for the cost of defending the greed energy act in an international court. Canadians should be shocked to learn that because Canada is being sued under the international trade rules for the activities of the Ontario Liberal Party and international trade is a federal responsibility, Canadians could be forced to pay almost a billion dollars in claims. Because of the lack of transparency in this budget, it is not being disclosed how much the budget must be increased to pay for the other hare-brained green energy schemes that do nothing to protect the environment and cost Canadians jobs.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is sometimes challenging to listen to such hyperbole, with all due respect, moving from attacks against the Ontario government, which have little merit or place in the House.

Let us set that aside for the time being and focus specifically on the issue of gold. The member suggested that the government is somehow engaging in inappropriate practices by selling off gold assets. It seems to me a reasonable thing to do, advised by many financial experts who suggest that diversifying the investment reserves of different currencies is a good plan.

Would the member opposite like to inform the House of the previous government's initiatives to sell off gold, which I understand to have been a standard practice?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is no line item on the gold sale that the current government incurred right before the budget this year. It begs the question of where we would be and how much more in debt we would be had we not sold off the gold reserves already.

However, since the reference was made to the Green Energy Act, I do want to emphasize that Canadian taxpayers are on the hook, if we look at part 1 of Bill C-15, which would implement a certain income tax measure proposed so that it would exempt the taxable income amounts received as rate assistance under the Ontario electricity support program. It is because the rates are so high that not only do Ontario electricity consumers have to pay their own bills and others' bills; now they would have to pay it through their federal income taxes as well.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, like the member for Pontiac, I was somewhat intrigued by the remarks about Canada's gold reserves and whether we should be holding them as part of our monetary base.

My question for the member would be this. Does Canada's role as a major gold producer have any bearing on how much gold it makes sense for us to hold or not hold in reserve?

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

Mr. Speaker, now Canada is the only G7 country that holds no official reserves. That puts us into the same category as countries with no gold reserves, such as Tonga, etc. It is incumbent upon us to be part of the higher gold reserves in terms of the G7.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is hardly an exaggeration to suggest that the policies of the Liberal brand in Ontario are coming to the federal level, considering the players that are involved. My question for the hon. member is this. With respect to the Green Energy Act, which, as I said in my speech earlier, has been an unmitigated disaster for Ontario, how would that play out federally if that same plan were to be enacted across this country?

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

Mr. Speaker, certainly plans are under way to implement the spirit of the Green Energy Act federally. Now that they have put Ontario into bankruptcy, they are looking at the national treasury.

Not only are federal taxpayers expected to subsidize this electricity-subsidy program, but also if the court case at the Hague is lost, taxpayers will be on the hook for another $1 billion, and there is not anything in this budget outlining that either. That is in addition to all the employment insurance extra premiums that employers would be on the hook for across the country because the Green Energy Act has hollowed out manufacturing in Ontario.