Evidence of meeting #126 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cra.
A video is available from Parliament.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Then we'll go to the vote on G-5.
(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
(Clause 9 as amended agreed to)
(Clauses 10 and 11 agreed to)
(On clause 12—Jurisdiction)
Mr. Rankin.
9:10 a.m.
NDP
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
This is just a question, probably for the officials again.
The purpose of clause 12 is to give original jurisdiction to the Tax Court, as in the case of the other statutes that it has jurisdiction over. My question is this. Would it be possible, under their rules, to have more “user-friendly” regulations, if I can call them that, in case individuals come before the tax court?
I know, for example, in the Federal Court there are special rules for privacy and access to information, where, if you like, people who haven't been represented legally are able to perhaps proceed more efficiently.
I wonder if that's possible under the Tax Court rules. Or do you know?
9:10 a.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
I don't know, to be honest. What I can do is to look into it and see if we can provide some information back to committee.
9:10 a.m.
NDP
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
Could that indeed be part of the consultation exercise? Could that be something that you would discuss with the people who are affected by the disability tax credit regime?
9:10 a.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
The only reason I'm hesitating is that whenever you're looking at something that involves the courts, and the independence of the courts, I would want to be very careful that we weren't consulting on something that they would be offended by.
Certainly we'll take it under advisement. If we can fit it in, and they'd be welcome to hear just even what was said, we could certainly try to accommodate that, sure.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Shall the committee order a reprint of the bill as amended for the use of the House at report stage?
9:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
9:10 a.m.
NDP
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
Mr. Chair, I'm not sure if it's appropriate, but would it be in order to ask these—
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I always get nervous when colleagues start a statement like that.
9:15 a.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
9:15 a.m.
NDP
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
Well, that just betrays my rookie status, Chair.
I wonder if it would be appropriate, given the nature of this bill, to put forward a motion to ask the officials to come back with a status report after their consultations have been completed, and maybe a progress update six months thereafter, just to talk about the outreach and communications respecting this initiative.
I say that because we've heard witnesses talk about the impact of this bill on their lives. We've heard people talk about the cuts, the failure of outreach services, the cutting down of the inquiry counter services for CRA, as causing a lot of hardship.
I'm wondering whether, in that context, such a motion would be in order, that the officials could come back and tell us how they fared.
It shouldn't take very long for such a report to be given.
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I don't know whether a motion is required. You could, as a member of the committee, just make the request of CRA to do that.
Ms. McLeod, do you want to address this point?
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Certainly the government would be more than happy to support bringing the officials forward at that time. Whether, as the chair advises, we need a motion, or whether we should simply move it forward to subcommittee discussion, I think we certainly would support that.
My only other comment is that I regularly hear the opposition express concern about the money we spend on advertising, when what we're doing is we're spending money to advertise very important initiatives, such as the disability tax credit. I think sometimes perhaps they need to temper that, because our job as government is to spend money and time sharing with Canadians.
Certainly as a member of Parliament, in my householder that went to every single household in the riding, I let them know about this program. I outreached to the groups that deal with people with disability to let them know about that tax credit.
So not only is CRA doing a great job in terms of this program, but I also think that as parliamentarians we can do a great job in supporting our constituents.