Finance Committee on Dec. 7th, 2007

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

Wasn't there a proposal to do work two years ago, under the former Liberal government? Wasn't the project filed with the city?

[Pierre Morrissette]

There was a project filing for the Canada Post site, which covers part of the area around the Lachine Canal.

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

I'm just talking about the canal.

[Pierre Morrissette]

For the moment, we're still waiting for a second phase in order to complete renovation work on the canal itself. There have been no other filings since it was reopened.

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

All right.

Ms. Asselin, you said a lot about the issues and the fact that the present government has cut a number of programs and isn't taking the status of women seriously.

You also talked about employment insurance and discrimination against women, but there is one thing that I didn't understand. You said that, to receive employment insurance benefits, there are hours that should not be—

[Michèle Asselin]

In fact, we know that since a significant change was made in employment insurance eligibility criteria, expressed in numbers of hours, women, who are the champions of part-time work, are no longer accumulating enough hours to receive benefits when they are unemployed. This creates systemic discrimination.

And when you compare men's and women's access to employment insurance, you realize that there is a significant gap. Unfortunately, I don't have all the tables, but you can—

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

So what would be the solution?

[Michèle Asselin]

The employment insurance criteria should be reviewed, particularly since there are large surpluses. This is a major social program which should not be discriminatory towards women.

The calculation expressed in numbers of hours is discriminatory against women. That's statistically proven.

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

Is that it?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes, that's it.

Monsieur St-Cyr.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you everyone for being here.

Mr. Morrissette, you said in your statement that you would like to move forward with the postal sorting station site rehabilitation project. You explained a little what it was about. However, you seemed to lack the time to tell us about the second phase of the Lachine Canal development.

I'd like to know whether the community has expressed its views on a development plan? What is its content? What's planned in that second phase?

[Pierre Morrissette]

There is indeed a second phase of the Lachine Canal project. You should know that the project was originally divided into two parts over a matter of budgetary resources. That second phase consists essentially in completing renovation of the canal's physical infrastructure, which was the object of the first phase. It's also designed to give the organizations and businesses of the SouthWest the resources to animate the canal. It's been restored, and the SouthWest neighbourhoods obviously went into a fairly disastrous decline in the years after the seaway was opened.

We need a hand to restart activities, to animate the canal, to organize events and develop the heritage. There are historic buildings of national heritage importance that have been abandoned. If significant funding is not allocated by both Parks Canada and the public, businesses and organizations of the SouthWest, the canal will remain what it is now, a kind of bicycle path not particularly well maintained in the heart of the city. As citizens settle in the area around the canal, they're becoming increasingly demanding about adequate maintenance of this space. Unfortunately, it's not being well maintained.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Projects of all kinds are currently being discussed in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada. A number are being criticized and meeting with opposition. Is there a consensus in the community on the two components of the project you're presenting to us today? What is RESO's role in establishing and maintaining that consensus?

[Pierre Morrissette]

I can say without being too mistaken that the unanimous view in the SouthWest is that it is the right time both to carry out a multifunctional and socially mixed project on the Canada Post Corporation site and to move on to the second phase of investment on the canal. RESO's role, by its very nature, is to cooperate and bring together all the various socio-economic players in the SouthWest in order to move the various projects forward.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

You say there is a consensus that this project is relevant and important, but, in a more detailed way, is there agreement on terms and conditions?

[Pierre Morrissette]

There is a consensus on a very specific project that has been presented by RESO and other SouthWest partners, for which planning will begin with the Canada Lands Company. Decontamination is a central element as regards the Canada Post Corporation site, but it is for the SouthWest as well. This is a contaminated site that has been left behind by the industries that were there for 100 or 150 years.

The characteristic of this site is that it was federal government property. We think it is entirely legitimate to think that the government should clean the site up before handing it over so that a project that meets the needs of the SouthWest community is carried out.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move on to Monsieur Harvey.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Bergeron, you're asking that there be no tax on consumer goods purchased in Canada by a person returning to Canada, whereas we know perfectly well that duty free applies to consumer goods purchased outside Canada.

From what point are goods duty free? When do they cease to be duty free?

[André Bergeron]

The two points of my presentation that must be kept in mind are as follows.

First, the market in general is changing. Many people who come to visit Canada will return to their countries and will buy goods at the duty free store when they arrive. So sales are being shifted. There are already 55 countries. People from those of those countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland come to visit Canada. So if we introduce the same principle, we'll repatriate those sales.

Second, we're not asking for an increase in the value of exemptions currently granted to Canadian residents or visitors entering the country. The idea instead is to give consumers, for reasons of convenience, the choice of place where they purchase their products. We're not asking for an increase in the exemptions to which they're already entitled.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I understand. If I go to Future Shop, the first $750 that I spend will be tax exempt.

[André Bergeron]

Yes.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

The question is from what point products are no longer exempt from customs duties. Is it at the airport, in the airport parking lot, when you cross the airport limits or leave the country you come from?

[André Bergeron]

In any case, it isn't just the moment you leave the country. We have duty free products on board aircraft that haven't passed the customs post of the foreign country to any greater or lesser degree. Perhaps you can ask the question differently.

[Luc Harvey, Conservative, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Yes, but that's in the international zone.

[André Bergeron]

Indeed. So we're talking about a difference of an hour or two. Will that be the decisive factor? We're asking that what is duty free remain duty free until you pass through Canadian customs. Purchases are therefore made until you can buy at Canadian customs. In fact, it's appreciably the same principle at the border. Stores at the U.S. border are a few 100 metres—