Regarding the measures that have been announced, the provinces were consulted in mid November. The changes are of a technical nature. The O'Brien report policy and recommendations were fairly clear on this score. Crown corporations involved in the generation of hydro-electric power must be considered under the natural resources base, while those that are not must be considered under the corporate tax base.
Hydro One is not involved in the generation of hydro-electric power, unlike SaskPower and NB Power. As a result, Hydro One has been moved to another base, while SaskPower and NB Power have been slotted into the same base as Hydro-Québec.
The policy is clear: even if we're dealing with corporations that carry out a range of activities, their overall revenues must be considered under the natural resources base. Hydro-Québec is being treated exactly the same as BC Hydro or Ontario Power Generation.