Finance Committee on May 31st, 2006

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

Thank you.

Mr. White.

[Toby White]

I would recommend using the money set aside by Bill C-48 for an access fund and also an expansion to the Canada access grant.

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

That's not the option. The option is whether we accept Bill C-13. Do we adopt it? Are there any amendments?

We're not debating Bill C-48, so the question is on Bill C-13.

[Toby White]

Yes. I would suggest, vis-à-vis an amendment, that there be some provision for access put into the section about the fund that uses the money from Bill C-48.

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

That's fine. Thank you.

Mr. Van Iterson.

[Andrew Van Iterson]

I would recommend two amendments.

First of all, we should allow the investment tax credit for exploration to end, as it was set to. When it appeared this would expire, The Northern Miner magazine said to let it rest in peace. There aren't a lot of reasons to keep it going.

Secondly, there should be an announcement of the phase-out of oil and gas subsidies.

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

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson.

[Leslie Wilson]

We would recommend accepting it, with a slight change that the moneys be directed towards licensed care.

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

Fair enough.

Mr. Thomson.

[Andrew Thomson]

On balance, we believe the budget is a sound one, although there is no doubt you'll hear from almost every province in the country that there is a grave concern about the approach that's being taken as it pertains to child care. More work will need to be done on the child care file, and a great deal of work done as we understand what the impact of cuts is on the environment.

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

Thank you. And the Kelowna accord as well, I believe?

[Andrew Thomson]

And Kelowna, yes. I was trying to keep my answer brief. There's a long list of things we would pursue. Certainly Kelowna is one of them.

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

I'm used to long lists.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Mr. Savage will continue.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

The day after the budget came out, there was a great piece in the Globe and Mail that talked about Canada's economy being a world-beater. It spoke quite glowingly of the management of the economy, which I must credit.... The government also in its books talked about how well the economy has been managed. But the article also talked about how to keep it that way, and it said the two priorities are education and the environment. These seem to be two areas that were neglected.

Mr. Van Iterson, I would ask you, are you familiar with the EnerGuide program?

[Andrew Van Iterson]

Yes.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

One of the things we've heard concerning the cancellation, which I think is unfortunate—and I had some experience in this area in a past life, working at Nova Scotia Power and being the administrator of EnerGuide in Nova Scotia.... One of the things we heard from the Minister of Natural Resources quite often was that 50% of the program went to administration. I think he was including in that the actual assessments, where people go into houses and do the work. If you include that, all the work of members of Parliament is administration, I suspect, because we don't contribute much else.

Could you comment on the cancellation of the EnerGuide program?

[Andrew Van Iterson]

I think it was a really sad occurrence. It was a very good, well-functioning program. It was well set up so that people could get advice, but it was also monitored to make sure the work was done and that finances were saved.

I was on a flight a couple of weeks ago with Mr. Yakabuski, who's the Conservative energy critic in Ontario. He was quite disappointed that we were making cuts to programs that helped low-income Canadians insulate their homes, because obviously it's hard for them to afford to do it otherwise.

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Brian Pallister]

Mr. Dykstra.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Battle, the chart you provided speaks to income, but it doesn't speak to the needs of parents and children in the country. For example, you haven't incorporated anything the provinces are doing.

Do you think child care is a federal responsibility or a provincial one?

[Ken Battle]

It's a provincial responsibility in terms of designing and operating child care, but the federal government historically has played a role in helping finance it.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

When you create charts, don't you think you should really tell the full story—what the provinces actually do as well, not just what might be a means test from a federal perspective?

[Ken Battle]

The analysis we did looked at—this has been brought up a couple of times already—the new program as a child benefit. It's not a child care program at all.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

No one said it was a child care program, sir. You've said it today a number of times.