Evidence of meeting #55 for Finance in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
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Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
The government could set aside $100 million, and increase that gradually over time.
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Vice-President, Member Services, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
In 1993, the Horner report suggested that 5% of the budget be invested in prevention. That would translate into approximately $350 million. Any additional effort would be greatly appreciated. That much is certain.
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Bloc
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National President, Canadian Artists' Representation
From the Canada Council for the Arts?
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Conservative
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Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all our presenters here today. It's been a real pleasure hearing from each of you.
My question is for the Railway Association of Canada. We've talked about the need to focus on both passenger and freight service, and across rural Canada, certain short lines or privately owned rail lines are in danger of closing. These lines are used to ship goods, most of which are produced by hard-working Canadians. Some of these lines are used by large multinational companies. Many producers in my riding use these short lines to move their grain and other commodities.
What involvement, if any, would you suggest for the federal government to ensure continued access to affordable, clean, and practical rail shipping?
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President and Chief Executive Officer, Railway Association of Canada
We have very much supported a three-way infrastructure upgrading program for short lines across the country. The first major one was put in place in Quebec, involving the Quebec government, the federal government, and our short-line members. It has been operational now for a few years. Saskatchewan is running a program. Manitoba has a number of initiatives under way. We are awaiting some decisions in Ontario, which we hope will be coming very shortly. We very strongly believe we need to upgrade infrastructure on short lines.
Twenty-five per cent of all that freight I talked about originates or is destined on a short-line railway, and it ties into the international network. If you lose that, you not only lose a major economic advantage, but you also lose, frankly, an environmental advantage for the local area as well.
One of the big problems short lines have is that they don't have the volumes. Railroading is a very capital-intensive business. We put 20% of our gross revenues every year back into the ground. It's hugely capital-intensive, more so than any other industry in the country. Short lines just don't generate that kind of revenue to be able to continuously upgrade their services, so this kind of a program is a very cost-effective way of ensuring that basic infrastructure is there in rural areas.
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Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Thank you very much.
I will be sharing my time with Mr. Dechert.
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Conservative
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Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first question is for Mr. Gazzard of the Co-operative Housing Federation.
It's good to see you again. The last time we were together, I believe, was in Oakville earlier this year, when the government announced the $2 billion for renovation of co-op and social housing.
I subsequently attended two such announcements for improvement of co-op housing in Peel Region, which is the region I'm from.
For the benefit of my friends across the way, they were both in Liberal-held ridings.
Was this funding helpful to you? You mentioned something to me that day about the history of federal government funding for co-op housing and what co-op housing had received over the last 20 years. I wonder if you could repeat that for us.
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Executive Director, National Office, Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada
To answer your first question first, the program's been hugely successful. It's just been vastly oversubscribed, which is one of the reasons why we are coming back again with this idea for a low-cost loan program.
The federal government's commitment to co-op housing over the years has been by way of annual subsidies. I can't give you a number off the top of my head, but CMHC's total annual transfer right now is approximately $1.8 billion for what we call the legacy program.
So it doesn't include the new spending on the affordable housing initiative. That's the money that's been committed for long-standing programs that go back to the 1970s and 1980s. That's the funding I was mentioning that's going to expire.
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Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
I think you mentioned that the $2 billion in budget 2009 was the largest amount that co-op or social housing had received from the federal government in approximately 20 years.
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Executive Director, National Office, Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada
Absolutely, yes. It's the largest infusion of new capital we've seen, and it's much needed. There's no question about it that the result is going to be a reinvestment in the physical assets of affordable housing providers, which will stand Canada in good stead over the next generation.
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Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Gazzard.
I have a question for Mr. Mackay and the Railway Association of Canada.
How do you think your pension insolvency deficit funding suggestion would be perceived by pension beneficiaries?
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President and Chief Executive Officer, Railway Association of Canada
In general, we believe it would be positively received. A number of consultations have been going on, some, of course, with Mr. Menzies and the government.
One of the problems we have is that the technical way in which those ratios are calculated on a five-year basis doesn't match the economic cycles. It's too short. So you end up exacerbating the positives when the economy is growing very fast and the negatives. It's very difficult to manage it and ensure that you have a well-funded and well-managed pension plan.
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Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
And what's your view of...?
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you, Mr. Dechert.
I want to ask one very quick clarification of Ms. MacQuarrie.
Do you have a costing or an estimate for your proposal for the refundable disability tax credit?
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Director, Policy and Programs, Canadian Association for Community Living
Yes. It's probably about $350 million.