Thank you very much.
Evidence of meeting #6 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #6 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Thank you very much.
We'll now move on to Mr. Turner. You have five minutes.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
Thank you very much.
Mr. Tabor, you referenced the Minister of Finance and Harry Potter. That famous press conference the Minister of Finance gave, holding up the Harry Potter book, was that helpful to the industry?
Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association
Not particularly.
Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association
It avoided exposing some of the real causes of the differential in the pricing, that they can get lost between retailers. But a structural problem was missed, and that is the imposition of a tariff, if you will, on the importation of books from the U.S. into Canada.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
Do you believe the minister raised consumer expectations that prices in the book publishing industry should fall? Was he almost making a demand, as the Minister of Finance?
Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association
I think the minister was trying to encourage...he perhaps misunderstood some of the mechanics of our industry, that there is a lag between currency conversions.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
What do you think he was trying to do? Why did he have the press conference, though?
Maybe he didn't understand the industry, but he must have had a reason for having the media conference. What do you think that was?
Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association
I think he was looking for an explanation for the differential in retail prices between the same products in Canada and the U.S.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
Okay, but that's not why he had the press conference. He didn't have the press conference to look for the reasons.
My--
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
I don't mind any question being asked as long as witnesses have the ability to answer, and that's a very subjective question, so give him a more direct question and that's fine.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
Mr. Chairman, you've got nothing to say about it. I'm sorry, but this is my five minutes.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
That did not come out of my time, by the way.
Mr. Yakabuski, you talked about the need for us to be ready for climate change, almost as if it were an inevitability. Do you feel Canada is doing nothing to stem the inevitable change in climate?
And do you have a comment on the Prime Minister's position in Uganda this past weekend?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada
I have said in the past there is no such thing as a serious climate change policy that does not have a plan to adapt to climate change. I think the reality is that most countries, most jurisdictions, have missed the ballgame so far. I want to make sure Canada doesn't. I think the real challenge is to recognize that, yes, climate change and the severe weather that comes with it are inevitable, and we want to be the country that best adapts to this.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
Have we done anything to prepare? Are we taking a leadership role in this particular file or are we not?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada
I'm suggesting ways we can take a leadership role.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada
There's a lot of work to be done. I think that's clear.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
All right.
Ms. Lefebvre, your testimony certainly is damning the consequences that have happened with income trusts since the end of October of last year. Do you believe the Minister of Finance knew what the consequences would be, or do you think these were unintended consequences he didn't foresee?
Executive Director, Canadian Association of Income Funds
We have maintained from the very beginning that these were unintended consequences.
The minister acted, I'm sure, in what he considered to be good faith to a problem that was obvious at the time, and probably out of a sense of some degree of panic about the possible conversion on a mass scale of too many private corporations. However, the difference between reacting to that particular situation and the draconian measure that was taken is one that has effectively caused the destruction of the income trusts. I don't believe he realized at the time that this would be the consequence.
Liberal
Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON
It appears now, a year and a bit later, that what he was afraid of has been far surpassed by the actual negative consequences of the action that was taken.
Have you had any further dealings with the Department of Finance or with the minister? Has anyone called you up and said “I'm sorry”?
Executive Director, Canadian Association of Income Funds
That's not a serious question.