Absolutely.
Evidence of meeting #117 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was education.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #117 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was education.
A video is available from Parliament.
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
They weren't doing it prior to that.
I think we need better consultation on accommodation policies and engagement. We have to work together on that, though.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Agreed. I think it's going that way. It certainly has moved that way. Wouldn't you agree it's gotten a lot better, even in the last 10 years, I would suggest?
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
Certainly in the past 10 years.... I think they have a long way to go to get to that $650 billion potential that Canada has.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
I don't know if you're aware, but we've actually signed over 90 treaties with first nations in the last seven years, compared to the previous 13 years, in which I think there were 8 in total. Do you see that as being part of the challenge and part of the solution?
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
Absolutely. It's the implementation of those existing treaties, because there are some challenges with treaties as they've been signed, as they've been implemented, and ongoing comprehensive claims reform to sign new treaties is absolutely essential. That was, in part, the meeting we had on January 11 with the Prime Minister, to follow up on the crown-first nations gathering from the year before. It was on those very things.
I think you have a long way to go on comprehensive claims reform and treaty implementation, but that is absolutely a part of the solution moving forward.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Do you see that the real success we can have is the actual correlation and partnership between natural resource development in a sustainable way and utilizing those first nations partnerships all over the north, for that particular resource sector?
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
Yes, but it's within a broader bundle in the relationship between the crown and first nations.
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
I think natural resources are a part of the fiscal relationship that exists. Right now, it's primarily contribution agreement-based as opposed to this kind of governance model—
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
And a tripartite agreement between industry, first nations, and the Government of Canada....
10:05 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
Where they work, absolutely.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Mr. Chair, I have tons of questions.
I did want to talk a little bit about the dividend cheques. Do you see that as being a successful model? You know what happened with Fort McKay First Nation. I think it was $20,000 to each member last year in a dividend cheque because they had such a successful year. Do you think that kind of thing, spreading it out to the community members, is a successful model?
10:10 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
I think you have to balance out individual per capita distribution with what's retained in the communities. I've heard others talk about the economic advantages of addressing income inequality of schools and day care and public infrastructure. A lot of communities don't have schools, they don't have paved roads, they don't have waste-water treatment facilities.
Per capita distribution certainly is one model. I think there are others. Community infrastructure building would be—
10:10 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Assembly of First Nations
Of course, each community has to make those own determinations for themselves.
10:10 a.m.
Conservative
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Raymond Côté NDP Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The last testimony has left me frustrated. I will have a question for Ms. Fortin and then another one for Mr. Zorn. I ask that the other witnesses remain silent. They can comment on those questions if any time remains.
Ms. Fortin, I really liked your presentation. I will get straight to the point.
There has been an increase in all kinds of regressive tax measures. Let's take employment insurance as an example. The Parliamentary Budget Officer—in his latest economic and fiscal outlook—said that the rate for every $100 of insurable earnings could go up to $2.03 in 2016.
Clearly, this is the type of measure that affects middle-class workers, low-income workers and small businesses. You are conducting studies specifically on women. Some measures, such as new tariffs and the abolition of the tax credit for labour-sponsored funds, seem to have a limited scope when considered separately. However, when combined, they can have a certain impact. What are the general impacts on those categories of workers and businesses, and especially women?
10:10 a.m.
Professor, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Senior Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, As an Individual
Women are more likely than men to work part time. When employment insurance measures allow part-time workers to accumulate hours to qualify for benefits, that seems to work in their favour.
What was your second question?
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Raymond Côté NDP Beauport—Limoilou, QC
I was more interested in inequalities and the regressive aspect of the new measures. I was talking about employment insurance premiums and the new import tariff on 1,200 products from about 70 countries. In addition, the tax credit for labour-sponsored funds was eliminated. That initiative enabled workers to contribute to RRSPs, especially in Quebec.
10:10 a.m.
Professor, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Senior Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, As an Individual
Those measures will affect income after taxes. That should be to the disadvantage of those workers. The impact of trade on the increase in inequalities has been difficult to establish. That is why it is a bit hard to predict anything when it comes to the measures you talked about.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Raymond Côté NDP Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Very well. Thank you very much, madam.
Mr. Zorn, I think your report is fascinating. We don't have enough time to talk about it. In the part on taxes, you cite the study conducted by Piketty, Saez and Stancheva, regarding the strong correlation between high incomes and marginal tax rates. That's very interesting. Of course, this observation is not limited to those researchers.
I will be fairly blunt. You may have read famous investor Warren Buffett's letter in The New York Times regarding his own experience as an investor. He says that very high tax rates on high incomes don't really stand in the way of money making, contrary to an urban legend. Do you have anything to say about that?
