Finance Committee on Oct. 5th, 2006

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Brown, just quickly, in your brief you discuss how effective the 2004 federal–provincial health care agreement was. You then state in your brief that it “does not provide for renewed investments needed in infrastructure, infostructure, post-secondary education” and so on. That troubles me a little bit, because there's a lot of money in there, but it's still not enough money. I don't think the money has even started to flow yet, but already there seems to be a problem. Am I misinterpreting it? Can you expand on that a little bit?

[Marlene Brown]

I would have to reiterate what I've said already. What is it being used for? Where is it going? For sure, some education seats have been increased in the nursing programs in Saskatchewan, but I can tell you right now that they're not going to meet the needs for the future. But part of the problem is that it's the whole system.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

But how about in terms of infrastructure?

[Marlene Brown]

Infrastructure?

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Yes. It says here “for renewed investments needed in infrastructure”. I would assume that means hard items, like machinery, buildings, hospitals.

[Marlene Brown]

And information technology and those kinds of things.

We need the continuous education to be occurring within the health care industry as well as in the education seats for nursing.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Thank you.

Just before we conclude, I have a couple of quick questions for Mr. Marit.

I'm just curious. Some of our colleagues live in jurisdictions where farmers may sell their commodities to whomever they choose. You spoke about value-added and its importance in Saskatchewan. How many pasta plants are there in Saskatchewan?

[David Marit]

None.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Flour mills?

[David Marit]

None.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

And these commodities that have to be sold currently through the Canadian Wheat Board don't add any value to rural Saskatchewan in terms of job creation or economic investment?

[David Marit]

No.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Thank you very much.

On the issues that you've presented today, you've all done a tremendous job. We sincerely thank you for your time today, for your presentations, and for your responses, forthright as they were, to our questions. All the best. Thank you.

We invite the panel members for the subsequent panel to assume these places.

We'll suspend for five minutes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Order, please. I will now introduce to our witnesses the concept of why we are here.

We are the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. We're mandated by the House of Commons on an annual basis to consider and make reports upon proposals regarding the budgetary policies of the government. This year the theme of our consultations is Canada's place in a competitive world, and we have asked you to prepare presentations of five minutes in duration.

Thank you for being here and thank you for the work you've put into your briefs, which we will have distributed. I understand that some may be waiting for translation, but I assure you that committee members will be reviewing those.

I will give you an indication when you have a minute remaining, just so I don't have to cut you off in mid-sentence. I'd encourage you to wind up your presentations at that point so that we can allow time for an exchange, questions, and comments afterward by committee members.

To begin, we'll go to a representative from the Canadian Nurses Association, Marlene Smadu.

[Dr. Marlene Smadu, President, Canadian Nurses Association]

Thank you very much for the opportunity to outline the Canadian Nurses Association vision for a stronger, healthier, and wealthier Canada.

My name is Marlene Smadu, and I'm the president of the Canadian Nurses Association, representing registered nurses from across the country. I live and work in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Let me begin by saying that the Conference Board of Canada noted in 2006 that our country's ability to introduce and sustain public programs depends on having the resources that result from growing national wealth. However, a year earlier the Conference Board asserted that productivity is Canada's most significant economic weakness.

As the president of the CNA, I'm here to outline how nurses from across the country can contribute to policy conversation about productivity in the economy. We see the health of the nation as its most fundamental resource. As such, it is a pillar of the Canadian economy, along with literacy, education, natural resources, the environment, and, of course, a robust technological and business infrastructure. It is our belief that with the best economic performance in the G-7 over several years, and with strong indications for continued top-five performance, Canada is well positioned to improve public programs like medicare and to support the health and, in turn, the productivity and prosperity of Canadians. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

To support the health and wealth of all Canadians, the federal government can boost productivity by investing its leadership and resources in three key areas: first of all, information management and communications technology; secondly, human capital in the health human resource sector; and thirdly, reductions in disparities and enhancement of the employability of Canadians. Taken together, all of these areas for action can improve timely access to quality care for all Canadians now and can redirect the Canadian health system toward a different, stronger future. Every national review of the Canadian health care system has supported the need for investment in all of these areas, but many gaps remain.

First of all, on investing in tools that boost productivity through technology, to improve access to the health system the federal government should focus its attention on information and communication technology in health care, which some say is as much as ten years behind industries such as banking. Our specific recommendations to the federal government are, first, to accelerate the implementation of information management and communication technology to support the coordinated and coherent delivery of health services; second, to ensure that every Canadian has access to the most suitable technology—for example, broadband—that will allow them to link to the Internet, from our largest urban centres to the most isolated northern communities; and third, to ensure that every Canadian has a personal electronic health record within the next five years.

In the second area, investing in health professionals to boost productivity through human capital, we propose that the looming shortages of health professionals in many disciplines are now global in nature. The United States alone projects a shortage of one million registered nurses in 2012, six years from now, posing a serious threat to the ability of the Canadian health care system by virtue of the U.S.'s economic clout and consequent ability to draw nurses south.

We are keenly aware of the jurisdictional authority in the delivery of health care services, but as many have noted, the federal government still has an important policy role to play to help direct workforces from low to high productivity. Consider the following three points: Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador regularly lose as much as 30% of their nursing graduates to other provinces. The federal government is the fifth-largest employer of registered nurses in the country, and federal power includes immigration.

Currently, employers all across Canada are competing for the same relatively small pool of nurses and doctors, so we recommend a federal government investment of $5 million to help with a standard framework for HHR, and $10 million in a mechanism to promote and facilitate pan-Canadian health human resource planning. We also urge the federal government to reinvest in the nursing research fund, a ten-year, $25-million fund that expires in 2008.

Our third area is reducing disparities and boosting productivity. We encourage the federal government to continue to invest in adult literacy, learning, and essential skills programs; to accelerate the development and implementation of a national pharmaceutical strategy; and to invest an initial sum of $10 million to establish an action-oriented, pan-Canadian program to eliminate ethnic, gender, and racial disparities in Canada by 2020.

We know this is long term, but we believe Canada can be a hallmark for the rest of the world in dealing with inequities in health outcomes, housing, safe water, employment, and equitable treatment in the criminal justice system. The strong leadership of the federal government in all of these areas is what assures the current and future health status of Canadians, and Canadian nurses are willing and able partners in policy development in these areas.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Thank you very much, Marlene.

We'll continue with Clyde Graham, who is here from the Canadian Fertilizer Institute. Mr. Graham, you have five minutes.

[Clyde Graham, Vice-President, Strategy and Alliances, Canadian Fertilizer Institute]

Thank you very much.

The Canadian Fertilizer Institute is an industry association representing manufacturers and wholesale and retail distributors of nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and sulphur fertilizers. We note that for the last few years, we've made our presentation to this committee in Saskatchewan because of the importance of our industry to the provincial economy in terms that this is the centre of potash production, and there's significant nitrogen production as well in the province.

Also, I'd like to recognize Al Mulhall, from the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. He is here today to observe with us, and I just want to let you know he is here as well.

Our member companies currently employ 12,000 Canadians, mainly in rural communities. The total economic contribution to the Canadian economy is over $6 billion. Canadian fertilizer manufacturers produce 25 million metric tonnes annually. Of this, we export 20 million tonnes to over 70 countries.

Canada's fertilizer industry competes successfully for markets around the world. Increasingly, our industry is facing new challenges from foreign competitors. Fertilizer production in Canada is highly productive. Our nitrogen plants and potash and phosphate mines are among the most modern and energy-efficient in the world, according to international benchmarking studies. But while the fertilizer industry in Canada is enjoying considerable success, federal and provincial governments must continue to make smart decisions to ensure this success is sustained in the long term.

In terms of our recommendations, we believe the government should reduce the tax burden on the fertilizer industry—particularly as it relates to investment decisions—which continues to face higher tax rates than competitors in other countries; develop a national energy strategy that will secure future supplies of natural gas that the nitrogen and potash producers depend upon; implement a Canadian air emissions strategy, with realistic targets and regulations to reduce greenhouse gases and other air emissions while ensuring the competitiveness of our industry; address a skills shortage that is affecting all resource industries—and I understand you've been to Fort McMurray and have heard a lot about that first-hand; and establish transportation policies that will encourage investment in Canada's rail and ocean freight capacity and provide service to shippers at the lowest total cost.

You have the brief, and I believe it has been translated. I'll just highlight a couple of points from the brief in order to give everyone else lots of time.

I'd like to mention in particular that CFI believes governments have a critical role to play in the development of a Canadian biofuels industry, to reduce our reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuels. Fertilizer, and particularly potash, will play a critical role in the production of crops needed for ethanol, biodiesel, and other biofuels. We support the federal government's plan to develop a national biofuel strategy. A number of provinces are already supporting biofuel development. We hope an effective national strategy will emerge, backed by all levels of government.

Again, in terms of taxation, taxation is a critical issue related to the capacity of industry to make the investments that will be required for new technology and capital stock turnover in order to deal with the clean air and greenhouse gas issues that I think are currently seizing the agenda of the federal government. We believe the government must work in partnership with industry in its approach to environmental sustainability. A key component of that cooperative approach is providing incentives for business to meet realistic environmental targets. Reduction targets for the industry must be reasonable, cost-effective, and achievable in practice.

Governments in Canada need to adopt policies that will enable our industry to make the investments necessary to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to the objective of clean air. Governments should facilitate investment by eliminating barriers to trade; continuing to move to a more competitive corporate tax system; and providing new investment incentives to accelerate technological change, modernize facilities, and upgrade skills. In particular, we'd like to emphasize that an accelerated capital cost allowance should be an important part of the market-based incentives approach in this area.

A couple of weeks ago, the president of CFI made a presentation to this committee on behalf of the Business Tax Reform Coalition, and there was certainly an emphasis from that coalition of industry groups on capital cost allowance acceleration.

I think those are the major points, and I'm happy to answer questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Very good. Thank you, sir.

From the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation, we have Hamid Javed. Welcome. Five minutes to you, sir.

[Hamid Javed, Chair, Board of Directors, Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairperson.

Members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be here talking on behalf of the SCIC, the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation.

In your finance committee's recent document “Canada's Place in a Competitive World”, you refer to the fact that Canada, as a small open economy, depends significantly on other countries for our economic health and prosperity. This recognition of the need for cooperation and working with other countries is commendable; however, we also understand that we depend on one another not only for economic prosperity, but also for global peace, global public health, and the protection of the global environment. Without these things, no country can prosper and no country is safe.

Because of our prosperity depending on others and also on the basis of cooperation within our own country, we need to invest in health, education, and infrastructure for Canadians, but not only for Canadians, but also the rest of the world if we want to live in peace. Right now, it is our belief that poverty now affects 3 billion people, half of the total human population. It's not only morally intolerable to Canadians, it's also a threat to the peace, health, and stability of the world in which Canadians must go about their business—in other words, our own self-interest.

During his election campaign, the Prime Minister promised that we will match the average OECD donor performance of 0.42%. We recommend that we should exceed the average of the OECD and should aim for 0.7%, which was a goal set by one of our own prime ministers a few decades back and was taken up by the world as a goal to reach. In order to do that by 2015, we recommend that Canadian aid be increased by 18% annually and that the government commit to a plan to meet the target of 0.7% of our gross national income. It's very important that we take the rest of the world along with us.

More aid by itself is not enough. We also need better aid, that is why we support Bill C-293, the Development Assistance Accountability Act. We urge the government and members of Parliament from all parties to support speedy passage of this bill.

Of course, we recognize that the Government of Canada is also directly concerned with the well-being of Canadians, their health, education, and standard of living, as your brief discusses. On this topic, we would like to point out that far from being able to adopt new technologies and seize market opportunities, many Canadians currently live in poverty, affected by poor nutrition, illiteracy, and institutional racism. Statistics tells us that one in six Canadian children are poor. Every month, 700,000 people in Canada use food banks. In Saskatchewan, the unemployment rate for aboriginal people is more than double the rate of non-aboriginals, and working aboriginal people have an average income almost 50% lower than the average income of non-aboriginal people.

In order to ensure that our citizens are healthy and have the right skills for their own benefit and for the benefit of their employers, the government must take action against poverty in Canada. A big step toward this goal would be increasing the national child tax benefit. The government also needs to get serious about developing a poverty reduction strategy for Canada that includes positive initiatives in housing, population health, and labour force development. Investment in poverty reduction will yield many economic and social benefits for us and everybody else.

I would like to draw your attention to the pitfalls of recent failed government cutbacks to the programs of literacy, court challenges, the Law Commission, Status of Women, reducing smoking among the aboriginal communities, and other programs. The negative impact on skills development, health, and protection of rights is fairly obvious.

Mr. Chairman, the document “Canada's Place in a Competitive World” recognizes that we face an uncertain, rapidly changing future, for which we must be prepared and proactive. SCIC would go one step further and say that in many ways the world is poised at the edge of environmental, social, and political disaster. Focusing solely on improving the competitiveness of Canadian business will not avert this disaster. In fact, shifting social and environmental costs away from business might make them more competitive today—

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Thank you, sir, but your time has been exceeded. We'll have time for questions. I'm sure you'll get some.

It's always nice to see a fellow Manitoban. Gord Steeves, welcome here.

[Gord Steeves, Councillor, City of Winnipeg; First Vice-President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Proceed on behalf of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

[Gord Steeves]

Thank you very much.

I'm joined by our chief executive officer, Jim Knight.

As you are aware, FCM, through its members, represents about 90% of the Canadian population. I know I don't need to remind the members of this committee that cities and communities are central to Canada's prosperity and quality of life, and in these places that are so important to Canadians, municipal governments are on the front lines.

While municipal governments are committed to maintaining the well-being of their communities, they are caught in a fiscal squeeze that hampers their ability to deliver on this commitment. The root of the squeeze lies in the imbalance between the responsibilities and resources of municipal governments and the other orders of government.

One symptom that is visible in our communities is the $60-billion national municipal infrastructure deficit. The FCM's municipal members have called on the federal government to help fix this deficit and the fiscal imbalance, and we have been heard.

For more than a decade, the Government of Canada has treated the well-being of Canada's cities and communities as a national priority. The 2005 federal budget broke new ground, with the introduction of a plan to share a portion of the federal gas tax with municipal governments. The 2006 budget renewed existing infrastructure programs that have helped municipal governments deal with some of their most pressing needs. But infrastructure renewal requires a long-term investment. Ad hoc federal contributions have helped, but they have not provided the long-term solution.

In Budget 2006, the Government of Canada outlined a two-pronged consultative approach to restore the fiscal balance and deal with the infrastructure deficit. Minister Cannon is developing a plan to place federal infrastructure investments on a predictable long-term track, and Minister Flaherty will ensure that the perspectives and priorities of cities and communities are considered in discussions on the fiscal balance. We appreciate these steps and look forward to working with those ministers.

Our submission today contains five recommendations for this year's budget. They are to develop a long-term plan to eliminate the municipal infrastructure deficit; to transition to a long-term approach; to clarify roles and responsibilities; to commit to developing a national transit plan; and to create a global program for local governance. I'll highlight these briefly.

On developing a long-term plan to eliminate the municipal infrastructure deficit, we are calling on the government federally to commit, in Budget 2007, to a long-term extension of federal investments in municipal infrastructure. This national plan must take into account the effects of climate change on critical infrastructure and must make the necessary resources available to ensure that municipalities can protect the health and safety of their residents.

On transitioning to a long-term approach to help municipalities through the transition period between current arrangements and a long-term plan, we need a continuation of the current gas tax transfer, with expanded project eligibility criteria. These expanded criteria would include municipal initiatives for sport and recreational facilities, including parks and other social infrastructure. We also need to restructure the existing suite of municipally targeted application-based infrastructure programs. They should be adapted to consider the unique needs and limited capacities of extremely small rural and remote communities.

On clarifying roles and responsibilities, all governments need to work together to realign roles and responsibilities with the appropriate financial resources and begin coordinating their efforts. It is crucial that municipal governments be consulted in all areas of program and policy development that affect them, and our submission illustrates this point by looking at three crucial policy areas: security, housing, and immigration.

We are asking that Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada commit to a consultation process that includes municipal governments in national emergency preparedness planning. We are calling for a continuation of the affordable housing initiative and the residential rehabilitation assistance program. The national homelessness initiative should also be continued, and we urge the continuation of the supporting communities partnership initiative, which has been effective as well.

Immigration has brought enormous benefits to our cities and communities. The government should ensure that municipal interests and views are represented when immigration policies and programs are discussed.

Public transit plays a central role in the quality of life, environment, and economic competitiveness of our urban regions, yet Canada is the only G-8 country currently without a national transportation program. The government should commit, in Budget 2007, to the development of a permanent national transit plan by 2008-09, when the existing funding for public transit expires.

Municipalities can play an important role in advancing the Government of Canada's international policies and programs. We're asking the government to create a ten-year global program for local governance to coordinate Canada's international assistance work. The program would strengthen democracy in local governance, improve policies, and expand knowledge-sharing to help achieve the millennium development goals.

We stand before you, Mr. Chairman, as a group of assembled politicians who represent the same interests that you do. The people we represent are the same people you represent. We feel our tasks should be the same tasks as yours.

We thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Thank you. Well done.

We'll continue with John Schmeiser, who is here from the Canada West Equipment Dealers Association. Welcome, and proceed.