Bill C-59

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023

An Act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023 and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023

Part 1 implements certain measures in respect of the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations by
(a) limiting the deductibility of net interest and financing expenses by certain corporations and trusts, consistent with certain Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of Twenty Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project recommendations;
(b) implementing hybrid mismatch rules consistent with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of Twenty Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project recommendations regarding cross-border tax avoidance structures that exploit differences in the income tax laws of two or more countries to produce “deduction/non-inclusion mismatches”;
(c) allowing expenditures incurred in the exploration and development of all lithium to qualify as Canadian exploration expenses and Canadian development expenses;
(d) ensuring that only genuine intergenerational business transfers are excluded from the anti-surplus stripping rule in section 84.1 of the Income Tax Act ;
(e) denying the dividend received deduction for dividends received by Canadian financial institutions on certain shares that are held as mark-to-market property;
(f) increasing the rate of the rural supplement for Climate Action Incentive payments (CAIP) from 10% to 20% for the 2023 and subsequent taxation years as well as referencing the 2016 census data for the purposes of the CAIP rural supplement eligibility for the 2023 and 2024 taxation years;
(g) providing a refundable investment tax credit to qualifying businesses for eligible carbon capture, utilization and storage equipment;
(h) providing a refundable investment tax credit to qualifying businesses for eligible clean technology equipment;
(i) introducing, under certain circumstances, labour requirements in relation to the new refundable investment tax credits for eligible carbon capture, utilization and storage equipment as well as eligible clean technology equipment;
(j) removing the requirement that credit unions derive no more than 10% of their revenue from sources other than certain specified sources;
(k) permitting a qualifying family member to acquire rights as successor of a holder of a Registered Disability Savings Plan following the death of that plan’s last remaining holder who was also a qualifying family member;
(l) implementing consequential changes of a technical nature to facilitate the operation of the existing rules for First Home Savings Accounts;
(m) introducing a tax of 2% on the net value of equity repurchases by certain Canadian corporations, trusts and partnerships whose equity is listed on a designated stock exchange;
(n) exempting certain fees from the refundable tax applicable to contributions under retirement compensation arrangements;
(o) introducing a technical amendment to the provision that authorizes the sharing of taxpayer information for the purposes of the Canadian Dental Care Plan;
(p) implementing a number of amendments to the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) as well as introducing a new penalty applicable to transactions subject to the GAAR and extending the normal reassessment period for the GAAR by three years in certain circumstances;
(q) facilitating the creation of employee ownership trusts;
(r) introducing specific anti-avoidance rules in relation to corporations referred to as substantive CCPCs; and
(s) extending the phase-out by three years, and expanding the eligible activities, in relation to the reduced tax rates for certain zero-emission technology manufacturers.
It also makes related and consequential amendments to the Excise Tax Act and the Excise Act, 2001 .
Part 2 enacts the Digital Services Tax Act and its regulations. That Act provides for the implementation of an annual tax of 3% on certain types of digital services revenue earned by businesses that meet certain revenue thresholds. It sets out rules for the purposes of establishing liability for the tax and also sets out applicable reporting and filing requirements. To promote compliance with its provisions, that Act includes modern administration and enforcement provisions generally aligned with those found in other taxation statutes. Finally, this Part also makes related and consequential amendments to other texts to ensure proper implementation of the tax and cohesive and efficient administration by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Part 3 implements certain Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) measures by
(a) ensuring that an interest in a corporation that does not have its capital divided into shares is treated as a financial instrument for GST/HST purposes;
(b) ensuring that interest and dividend income from a closely related partnership is not included in the determination of whether a person is a de minimis financial institution for GST/HST purposes;
(c) ensuring that an election related to supplies made within a closely related group of persons that includes a financial institution may not be revoked on a retroactive basis without the permission of the Minister of National Revenue;
(d) making technical amendments to an election that allows electing members of a closely related group to treat certain supplies made between them as having been made for nil consideration;
(e) ensuring that certain supplies between the members of a closely related group are not inadvertently taxed under the imported taxable supply rules that apply to financial institutions;
(f) raising the income threshold for the requirement to file an information return by certain financial institutions;
(g) allowing up to seven years to assess the net tax adjustments owing by certain financial institutions in respect of the imported taxable supply rules;
(h) expanding the GST/HST exemption for services rendered to individuals by certain health care practitioners to include professional services rendered by psychotherapists and counselling therapists;
(i) providing relief in relation to the GST/HST treatment of payment card clearing services;
(j) allowing the joint venture election to be made in respect of the operation of a pipeline, rail terminal or truck terminal that is used for the transportation of oil, natural gas or related products;
(k) raising the input tax credit (ITC) documentation thresholds from $30 to $100 and from $150 to $500 and allowing billing agents to be treated as intermediaries for the purposes of the ITC information rules; and
(l) extending the 100% GST rebate in respect of new purpose-built rental housing to certain cooperative housing corporations.
It also implements an excise tax measure by creating a joint election mechanism to specify who is eligible to claim a rebate of excise tax for goods purchased by provinces for their own use.
Part 4 implements certain excise measures by
(a) allowing vaping product licensees to import packaged vaping products for stamping by the licensee and entry into the Canadian duty-paid market as of January 1, 2024;
(b) permitting all cannabis licensees to elect to remit excise duties on a quarterly rather than a monthly basis, starting from the quarter that began on April 1, 2023;
(c) amending the marking requirements for vaping products to ensure that the volume of the vaping substance is marked on the package;
(d) requiring that a person importing vaping products must be at least 18 years old; and
(e) introducing administrative penalties for certain infractions related to the vaping taxation framework.
Part 5 enacts and amends several Acts in order to implement various measures.
Subdivision A of Division 1 of Part 5 amends Subdivision A of Division 16 of Part 6 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 to clarify the scope of certain non-financial activities in which federal ‚financial institutions may engage and to remove certain discrepancies between the English and French versions of that Act.
Subdivision B of Division 1 of Part 5 amends the Trust and Loan Companies Act , the Bank Act and the Insurance Companies Act to, among other things, permit federal financial institutions governed by those Acts to hold certain meetings by virtual means without having to obtain a court order and to permit voting during those meetings by virtual means.
Division 2 of Part 5 amends the Canada Labour Code to, among other things, provide a leave of absence of three days in the event of a pregnancy loss and modify certain provisions related to bereavement leave.
Division 3 of Part 5 enacts the Canada Water Agency Act . That Act establishes the Canada Water Agency, whose role is to assist the Minister of the Environment in exercising or performing that Minister’s powers, duties and functions in relation to fresh water. The Division also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.
Division 4 of Part 5 amends the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act to, among other things,
(a) authorize the making of regulations respecting fees or charges to be paid by tobacco and vaping product manufacturers for the purpose of recovering the costs incurred by His Majesty in right of Canada in relation to the carrying out of the purpose of that Act;
(b) provide for related administration and enforcement measures; and
(c) require information relating to the fees or charges to be made available to the public.
Division 5 of Part 5 amends the Canadian Payments Act to, among other things, provide that additional persons are entitled to be members of the Canadian Payments Association and clarify the composition of that Association’s Stakeholder Advisory Council.
Division 6 of Part 5 amends the Competition Act to, among other things,
(a) modernize the merger review regime, including by modifying certain notification rules, clarifying that Act’s application to labour markets, allowing the Competition Tribunal to consider the effect of changes in market share and the likelihood of coordination between competitors following a merger, extending the limitation period for mergers that were not the subject of a notification to the Commissioner of Competition and placing a temporary restraint on the completion of certain mergers until the Tribunal has disposed of any application for an interim order;
(b) improve the effectiveness of the provisions that address anti-competitive conduct, including by allowing the Commissioner to review the effects of past agreements and arrangements, ensuring that an order related to a refusal to deal may address a refusal to supply a means of diagnosis or repair and ensuring that representations of a product’s benefits for protecting or restoring the environment must be supported by adequate and proper tests and that representations of a business or business activity for protecting or restoring the environment must be supported by adequate and proper substantiation;
(c) strengthen the enforcement framework, including by creating new remedial orders, such as administrative monetary penalties, with respect to those collaborations that harm competition, by creating a civilly enforceable procedure to address non-compliance with certain provisions of that Act and by broadening the classes of persons who may bring private cases before the Tribunal and providing for the availability of monetary payments as a remedy in those cases; and
(d) provide for new procedures, such as the certification of agreements or arrangements related to protecting the environment and a remedial process for reprisal actions.
The Division also amends the Competition Tribunal Act to prevent the Competition Tribunal from awarding costs against His Majesty in right of Canada, except in specified circumstances.
Finally, the Division makes a consequential amendment to one other Act.
Division 7 of Part 5 amends the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to exclude from their application prescribed public post-secondary educational institutions.
Subdivision A of Division 8 of Part 5 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to, among other things,
(a) provide that, if a person or entity referred to in section 5 of that Act has reasonable grounds to suspect possible sanctions evasion, the relevant information is reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada;
(b) add reporting requirements for persons and entities providing certain services in respect of private automatic banking machines;
(c) require declarations respecting money laundering, the financing of terrorist activities and sanctions evasion to be made in relation to the importation and exportation of goods; and
(d) authorize the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada to disclose designated information to the Department of the Environment and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, subject to certain conditions.
It also amends the Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1 in relation to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and makes consequential amendments to other Acts and a regulation.
Subdivision B of Division 8 of Part 5 amends the Criminal Code to, among other things,
(a) in certain circumstances, provide that a court may infer the knowledge or belief or recklessness required in relation to the offence of laundering proceeds of crime and specify that it is not necessary for the prosecutor to prove that the accused knew, believed they knew or was reckless as to the specific nature of the designated offence;
(b) remove, in the context of the special warrants and restraint order in relation to proceeds of crime, the requirement for the Attorney General to give an undertaking, as well as permit a judge to attach conditions to a special warrant for search and seizure of property that is proceeds of crime; and
(c) modify certain provisions relating to the production order for financial data to include elements specific to accounts associated with digital assets.
It also makes consequential amendments to the Seized Property Management Act and the Forfeited Property Sharing Regulations .
Division 9 of Part 5 retroactively amends section 42 of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to specify the payments about which information must be published on a Government of Canada website, as well as the information that must be published.
Division 10 of Part 5 amends the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act to increase the number of directors in the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, as well as to provide for consultation with the portion of the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada that represents employees when certain candidates are included on the list for proposed appointment as directors.
Division 11 of Part 5 enacts the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Act , which establishes the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, confers on the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities various responsibilities relating to public infrastructure and confers on the Minister of Housing various responsibilities relating to housing and the reduction and prevention of homelessness. The Division also makes consequential amendments to other Acts and repeals the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund Act .
Division 12 of Part 5 amends the Employment Insurance Act to, among other things, create a benefit of 15 weeks for claimants who are carrying out responsibilities related to
(a) the placement with the claimant of one or more children for the purpose of adoption; or
(b) the arrival of one or more new-born children of the claimant into the claimant’s care, in the case where the person who will be giving or gave birth to the child or children is not, or is not intended to be, a parent of the child or children.
The Division also amends the Canada Labour Code to create a leave of absence of up to 16 weeks for an employee to carry out such responsibilities.

[Tyler Blake Threadgill]

Sure, Derek, I can add to that.

I'd first say we very much appreciate that Bill C-59 highlights that there is a problem. What we would like to see from it broadly is the onus being taken off the consumer or the small shop, so that if they don't get access, they do not need to appeal. We think that the burden should not be on a small shop. If you take your car to your local mechanic and they say, “Give me a couple of weeks. I need to appeal to get this information”, you're going to go somewhere else. We want to avoid that.

We'd like to see it mandated that the car companies will allow the car owner to decide where they take the car and not have to go through that process each time they need an oil change or a brake change or when winter comes and they need to change their tires.

We're seeing instances now in which simply rotating tires requires access to data that some repair shops don't have. Specifically, we'd like amendments to include one to section 75 to make a means of diagnosis or repair available to a person within a specified period and on such terms as the tribunal considers appropriate.

Also, we'd like to have the trade secrets carve-out in subsection 75(2.1) struck down. We think that could just be used as a loophole. Obviously we have no interest in any of the car companies' trade secrets or intellectual property or access to any data other than for repair and maintenance, but we do see that as a slippery slope, in that the car companies could claim that any of that information was a trade secret.

Third, we'd like to see “maintenance and calibration” included in the proposed definition of “means of diagnosis and repair”.

[Derek Willshire]

Thank you, Mr. Ste-Marie.

For the fine details, I invite everyone to consult the brief that has been submitted. However, I can provide you with a summary, and I will let Mr. Threadgill add to my remarks afterward.

We know that it is increasingly difficult to access information relating to diagnosing, maintaining and repairing vehicles. Today's vehicles are much more technological, and that information is often transmitted to servers that are owned by the manufacturers, which further complicates repairing or doing basic maintenance on a vehicle. Consumers are increasingly required to go to the dealership, and this may involve travelling long distances for people who live in somewhat more remove areas. That means that consumers will have to pay higher prices as well as wasting their time.

Our reasoning is based on the fact that a car is the second most expensive item any Canadian family will buy. We would like to see more teeth and more specifics in the wording of Bill C‑59.

We hear a lot about the CASIS agreement, which dates from 2009 and was on a voluntary basis. I think my colleague referred to it. However, not all manufacturers are part of that agreement.

In addition, let's face it: today's cars have changed a lot. We are not opposed to technology and all of the safety-related aspects; they are very important and we are very glad of it. What is important to us, however, is to persuade you to reconsider access to that information so that repairs can be less burdensome. The choice should be up to consumers, because the vehicles belong to them.

Let's be clear: as our brief and our recommendations very clearly state, what we are interested in is the technical information related to diagnosing and repairing vehicles. We are not interested in consumers' habits or other information that might be recorded by the vehicles.

What we are asking for does not jeopardize any of the 135,000 jobs in the automotive manufacturing sector. What it does is protect consumers and give them a choice, in addition to protecting the 492,000 jobs in the secondary market. Obviously, I am referring to all the small mechanical repair shops and body shops in this great country, from coast to coast. That is becoming increasingly important.

Tyler, is there anything you would like to add?

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to welcome all the witnesses and thank them for being here.

Ms. Temper, I was very happy with your testimony. We will be trying to make amendments to Bill C‑59 to improve it as you would like to see.

Because my speaking time is limited, I am going to reserve my questions for the LKQ representatives, Mr. Threadgill and Mr. Willshire.

It is really important to make sure there is real competition in the automotive repair sector, and so I want to thank you for being here and for your testimony. To my knowledge, unfortunately, the committee has still not distributed your brief. I imagine it is being translated and we will be able to get it. The clerk is indicating to me that this is the case.

Mr. Willshire, I invite you to take my six minutes of speaking time to explain your proposals for amending and improving Bill C‑59 to provide for a real right to repair, real competition, and access to information in the automotive sector.

[Dr. Leah Temper]

There's a list of practices. You cannot use offsets to make claims of carbon neutrality. No generic terms or claims to carbon neutrality and net zero are permitted, and and so on.

One interesting example I would like to highlight is the case of Norway, which actually has a specific rule. As you know, Norway is the world leader in the sales of electric vehicles; I believe more than 70% of the cars sold there are electric. Since 2017, I believe, Norway has had a rule that no green or environmental terminology can be used to sell vehicles. A car cannot be described as “green” or “clean”; it doesn't even matter whether it is electric or not. What they say is that, fundamentally, cars are polluting.

This is another really interesting and useful example of what we can learn about how to market highly polluting sectors. There's no need to use environmental terms and green terms to describe them, and they're fundamentally misleading to consumers. We see in the example of Norway that this has not harmed the sale of electric vehicles.

In Canada, we currently have absolutely no guidance for companies on making green claims. The Competition Bureau had some guidance, but it has been archived since 2021. Right now there is no guidance for companies, and, as I mentioned, that has led to a huge surge in greenwashing.

Of course, we would have liked to have seen even more substantial changes to competition policy to address the greatest challenge to the economy in the coming decades, which will be the transition to a green economy. I believe Bill C-59 is a starting point. If possible, Bill C-59 should also highlight the need for complementary regulations and draw from some of the examples I put forward of what other jurisdictions are doing.

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today and for their testimony already.

I want to ask questions of Dr. Leah Temper. I appreciate the joint brief you submitted with the Quebec Environmental Law Centre, particularly on the subject of greenwashing, where Bill C-59 makes some important changes.

I was hoping you might be able to share with this committee what Canada can learn from how other countries have approached this issue. We wouldn't be a first mover in this space and we may be able to take some lessons about how to implement this in Canada from what they have done in other jurisdictions.

[Tyler Blake Threadgill, Vice-President, External Affairs, LKQ Corporation]

Thank you, Derek.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I'm Tyler Threadgill, vice-president of external affairs for LKQ in both Canada and the United States. I'm here today to address the pressing issue of the right to repair in the automotive sector, an important matter for Canadian consumers.

While we commend the steps taken in Bill C-59, they fall short of adequately protecting consumers' rights. We firmly believe that a legislative framework for the right to repair is needed to truly safeguard consumer interests.

Voluntary agreements like the Canadian automotive service information standard agreement have proven ineffective amidst the rapid advancements in automotive technology. As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented rate, it's imperative that legislation evolve alongside it to ensure that Canadians' rights and choices remain protected.

We firmly believe that legislation is the solution for restoring competition and preserving consumer choice within the automotive repair and service industry. This legislation should guarantee access to vehicle repair data and repair tools for independent repair shops and aftermarket parts manufacturers. OEMs must be mandated to provide decrypted data and standardized access to wireless or cloud-based repair data, while also refraining from misleading consumers about their repair options.

Additionally, the establishment of a centralized entity to oversee data transmission is essential to maintaining fairness and transparency. Drawing inspiration from the American REPAIR Act, this legislation should address the evolving technological landscape and align with government commitments to innovation and consumer protection. Failure to address these issues through decisive legislative intervention puts Canadian consumers at risk of falling prey to monopolistic practices that stifle competition, increase prices and impede innovation.

In conclusion, we ask this committee to consider our amendments to improve C-59 while recognizing the urgency of this matter and the profound impact that stand-alone legislation can have on protecting consumer rights and fostering a fair and competitive automotive repair industry in Canada.

Thank you for your attention and consideration.

Let us seize this opportunity to empower consumers and ensure a level playing field for Canadians.

We will be happy to take your questions.

[Derek Willshire, Regional Vice-President, Canada and New England, LKQ Corporation]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the members of the committee for having us here today.

My name is Derek Willshire and I am the regional vice-president for Canada at LKQ. With me today is my colleague Tyler Blake Threadgill, who is the vice-president of government affairs in the United States.

We are sorry not to be testifying in person, but we are very pleased to present our views on this bill, which is crucial for LKQ. We will focus exclusively on the right to repair and the flaws in the bill. Regarding the amendments, please consult our written brief.

LKQ distributes high quality parts for automotive repairs, whether manufacturers' or other parts, and also offers complete diagnostic and calibration services in Canada and the United States. LKQ processes over 900,000 end-of-life vehicles a year in North America and is the largest vehicle recycler in the world.

In this great country, our company employs 1,175 people at 37 sites. Even so, our team represents only a small fraction of the 492,000 people working in the automotive aftermarket in Canada.

The problem is simple: vehicles are becoming increasingly interconnected and complex, and it has become more difficult for independent shops' to access diagnostic data. Manufacturers' refusal to disclose that data limits consumers' choice and increases their costs. Without concrete action, small businesses will find it hard to maintain vehicles, and this will reduce competition in Canada.

We welcome the government's renewed attention to improving the Competition Act, with Bill C‑59, but major flaws remain and require your attention.

We would like to draw your attention to the importance of improving the definition of "means of diagnosis or repair" to include maintenance and calibration of components. Unlike other legislation, Bill C‑59 does not expressly require manufacturers to provide the data needed for repairs.

As well, exceptions such as protection of trade secrets could prevent access to essential repair information. The limits on the tribunal's authority to order remedies could also exclude major players in the automobile aftermarket.

As a final point, Bill C‑59 makes the right of action available only to individuals, and this limits the effectiveness of enforcement measures. It is crucial that the ability to bring an action be extended to include actions by the commissioner of competition.

Consumers deserve a competitive market that gives them the ability to have their vehicle repaired by the repairer of their choice. While Bill C‑59 recognizes this problem, specific legislation is urgently needed to address it.

I will now give the floor to my colleague, Mr. Threadgill.

Thank you again.

[Dr. Leah Temper, Director, Health and Economic Policy Program, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment]

Thank you.

Thank you very much to the Standing Committee on Finance for inviting me to appear today as a witness.

My name is Dr. Leah Temper. I'm the health and economic policy program director at the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. I also hold a Ph.D. in ecological economics, an interdisciplinary field that considers the economic system as a subsystem of the earth's ecosystem.

Today, I'm going to be speaking about greenwashing and clause 236 of Bill C-59. My colleague from the Quebec Environmental Law Center addressed you on Tuesday and outlined four recommendations from a brief we jointly submitted. These include expanding the amendment to include all business interests and entities as well as products; broadening the scope to all environmental claims; and requiring disclosure of the evidence behind any green claims to consumers, as well as disclosure of negative environmental impacts related to products and industries to address cherry-picking.

Julien did a great job, so I would therefore like to take my time today to highlight the urgency and benefits of taking bold and effective action on greenwashing through Bill C-59.

We know that greenwashing is bad for business, that it cheats consumers and that it hinders green innovation, but I'd like to stress how it's bad for all of our health and our shared environment. One example of this is the well-known case of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, which led to the largest environmental fine in Canadian competition history, when it came to public attention that the company was marketing clean diesels that emitted over 40 times more pollution than it claimed.

The company eventually paid out about $40 billion in damages globally, but there's a study in Europe that estimated the excess air pollution emitted as a result of this deception shortened 1,200 lives in Europe by 10 to 20 years each, leading to about 13,000 years of life lost. Customers in Canada were paid out, but the public who was exposed to the toxic diesel fumes and the children who suffered increased respiratory health issues were of course never compensated.

Today, we know that the vast bulk of greenwashing revolves around claims of net zero and carbon neutrality, and these empty words are undermining and derailing the necessary transition to phasing down fossil fuel use. The IPCC clearly said that disinformation from vested interests in highly polluting sectors in Canada is undermining public support for climate change and is obstructing action.

Greenwashing about false solutions to climate change runs the risk of locking us into these false solutions that are neither environmentally clean nor economically viable without ongoing government subsidies. We should learn from a recent report that highlighted how petrochemical companies marketed plastic as recyclable for decades, in order to boost “disposability profits”, when industry insiders knew from the beginning that plastics recycling was uneconomical and was not a viable way to address the plastic waste crisis.

Similarly, oil marketed as net zero is not clean. It of course still emits tailpipe emissions and should never be marketed as environmentally friendly. We know that transport air pollution in Canada remains a major contributor to the over 850,000 children under the age of 14 in Canada who suffer from asthma.

Green claims are also different. They suffer from information asymmetry in a more significant way than other product claims because consumers do not have the tools to verify their truthfulness the same way they can verify the durability or the effectiveness of a product. This highlights the importance of the disclosure requirement we have asked for.

Of even greater concern is what Wren Montgomery, a professor at the Ivey Business School, terms “futurewashing”, which are large, unsubstantiated commitments for the future. Of course, such claims cannot be verified, and they should be considered misleading in almost all circumstances.

She and her colleagues also highlight other features of what they term “greenwashing 3.0”, including how green claims are being used by polluting industries as political strategies for maintaining corporate reputation and social licence and how such messages are being targeted at stakeholders beyond consumers and used to dispute the feasibility of stricter environmental regulations. Greenwashing 3.0 points to the urgency of broadening the testing requirements of section 236 to include all business interests and not only products, and for the need for complementary regulations to those that our trading partners have already put in place.

I will close by saying that CAPE has filed several complaints with the Competition Bureau against fossil fuel interests for deceptive advertising in the last years. However, the process in Canada is exceedingly slow, with an estimated two to three years for a complaint to be resolved. In the meantime, the deceptive ads continue to inundate our airwaves, radios, buses and computer screens. This is, of course, of concern, because the decisions we take today will define our energy systems for decades to come, and because consumer skepticism is setting in whereby soon, any green claim, no matter how genuine, will no longer be believed, seriously undermining consumer confidence. This is why I ask you to strengthen—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Welcome to meeting number 136 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Monday, March 18, 2024, and the motion adopted on Monday, December 11, 2023, the committee is meeting to discuss Bill C-59, an act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023, and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to Standing Order 15.1. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.

I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of members as well as witnesses.

Although this room is equipped with a powerful audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to interpreters and can cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too close to a microphone. We therefore ask all participants to exercise a high degree of caution when handling the earpieces, especially when their microphone or their neighbour's microphone is turned on in order to prevent incidents and safeguard the hearing health of our interpreters.

I invite participants to ensure that they speak into the microphone into which their headset is plugged and to avoid manipulating the earbuds by placing them on the table away from the microphone when they are not in use.

I remind everyone that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as well as we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

I believe all witnesses appearing virtually have been tested, Mr. Clerk. It looks as though everybody is ready to go.

We welcome, from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Dr. Leah Temper, economic and health policy program director. Joining us from LKQ Corporation is the vice-president of external affairs, Tyler Threadgill, as well as the regional vice-president of Canada and New England, Derek Willshire. From the Macdonald-Laurier Institute we have a senior fellow, Mr. Philip Cross. He is with us here today in person in the room.

With that, we're going to have some opening remarks by the witnesses. We'll start with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

Go ahead, please, for up to five minutes.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Greer, I hear you loud and clear. The ITCs are vital to manufacturing, to jobs and to manufacturers. The Conservatives are holding up Bill C-59 at committee. They are delaying, obstructing, holding up, this vital piece of legislation that contains the ITCs.

Can you tell us what that delay and Conservative obstruction is costing and risking to Canadian manufacturers?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank you all for being here today.

You just heard from one of the apostles of the do-nothing Conservatives on climate change, but I want to provide you with a different perspective.

I want to especially thank you, Mr. Greer, for being here today, representing the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

In my home town of Windsor, there's a saying: “If you want it built right, build it in Windsor.” We have a lot of manufacturers in our community. It's a huge part of our prosperity in our community and of our economy, so I want to say thank you for your tremendous advocacy.

You mentioned the investment tax credit. I read the “Manufacturing Canada's Future” report, and it highlighted the importance of the investment tax credits for helping manufacturers transition to a zero-emissions clean economy.

How important are the investment tax credits that are contained in our federal government's Bill C-59?

[Kate McNeece]

In my personal view, I think Bill C-59, along with a number of other reforms that have come up in the last couple of years, is quite comprehensive and really does represent a sea change in the approach to competition and enforcement.

I think this does go far enough. There are a number of questions that this bill and the collective changes to the Competition Act have raised in terms of how enforcement will play out, how some of these private actions will increase enforcement, what is addressed and how they address them.

I am personally of the view that we should let these amendments sit in place and settle to see if we get some more clarity as to how courts would interpret the law and how the bureau has interpreted the law and to see if we get greater guidance so that our business communities can understand what this new version of the Competition Act means and can ensure that they are modelling their practices to comply with it.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Ms. McNeece.

Bill C‑59 addresses the issue of revising the Competition Act. Do you think we're not going far enough? Could we have gone further in this review? Are there issues that we may have to come back to in another bill because we left things on the table?

Is this bill too late? We all agree that large oligopolies have already been created in Canada. We can think of grocery stores, telecommunications and the oil industry, for example.

Could more vigorous action have been taken to encourage a stronger return to competition in Canada, notably by enabling the dismantling of certain monopolies that disadvantage consumers?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you.

Mr. Ross, I'm going to stay with you.

It's interesting that in my riding of St. John's East, there has traditionally not been a lot of co-operative housing, even though this is a model that I support. Since the GST link for the new co-operative builds, there's been energy among the groups in wanting to come together, seize the moment and spread the word on how important co-operative housing is to a full and robust housing strategy that really ensures no one is left behind.

Do you feel that moving this legislation forward, Bill C-59, is important to growing the co-operative movement and building co-operative housing in Canada?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Bill C-59 also enacts the department of housing, infrastructure and communities act, which would transfer part of the federal housing portfolio to the Office of Infrastructure Canada. What impact, if any, do you believe this reform will have on public infrastructure and housing outcomes in your sector?