And therein lies the dilemma.
Evidence of meeting #24 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infrastructure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #24 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infrastructure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Well, no. Members had some specific questions. Some might have had something they wanted to follow up on that would help them draft an amendment, just to make sure they understood that clause of the bill. That's what the officials were here for, which is typically how this committee has proceeded on budget matters.
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Will we have an opportunity for further questions on Thursday?
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Well, it's clause-by-clause and there's debate. You can debate each clause and you can amend each clause.
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
The officials will also be present. And generally the way we've worked is that if questions come up--
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I think the officials will be present on Thursday. I'm sure they wouldn't miss this for the world—they're excited about coming back.
Can I prioritize to parts 8,10, and...? Frankly, I don't even know if we'll get that far.
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Since we have other witnesses, I suggest that we will have other questions on Thursday. We will try to limit our questions to the three parts. We will also limit the number of questions on those three parts so that we can bring other witnesses forward.
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Take a few minutes now to respond on those other three parts that you've mentioned. Notwithstanding that, we should come back Thursday for some of the questions we have. I think that's a way of sorting out these two agendas for one evening. We get through some of the questions, bring our other witnesses forward, get into a more general discussion on C-13, and then leave some of the questions for Thursday.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Okay.
I want to thank Mr. Lalonde and Mr. Cook. We are not going to do part 2 or part 5. I apologize to those officials who stayed, but we are going to move to part 8. I understand there's one question on part 8. Could I ask the officials responsible for part 8 to come forward?
Part 8 of Bill C-13 deals with amendments to the Employment Insurance Act—hiring credit for small business. We have three officials with us. I want to welcome them to the table. If you'd like to introduce yourselves, we'll ask our questions afterwards.
Mr. Cuthbert.
6:50 p.m.
Ray Cuthbert Director, Legislative Policy Directorate, Canada Revenue Agency
My name is Ray Cuthbert. I'm the director of the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance Rulings Division at the CRA.
November 1st, 2011 / 6:50 p.m.
Mireille Laroche Director General, Employment Insurance Policy, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
Good evening. My name is Mireille Laroche, Director General, Employment Insurance Policy, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
6:50 p.m.
Tamara Miller Chief, Labour Markets, Employment and Learning, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Hello, my name is Tamara Miller. I'm chief of the labour markets, employment and learning section at Finance Canada.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
In the background, we talk about part 8 amending the Employment Insurance Act in order to reap, on a temporary basis, a portion of employer premiums. For those employers whose premiums are no more than $10,000 in 2010, the small employers would refund the difference between 2010 and 2011 premiums, so a maximum of $1,000. How was the choice of the maximum refund of the $1,000...? Also, how did it come to be set at $10,000 for the premium amount paid? What was the process?
6:55 p.m.
Chief, Labour Markets, Employment and Learning, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Again, I think that's a question with respect to the decision of the government.
In terms of the measure itself, we can answer any questions in the technical--
6:55 p.m.
NDP
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
So it was, again, a political decision is what we're hearing. Okay. I won't press you any further on that then. We don't want to get into political decisions, that's for sure.
6:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Are there further questions?
Thank you for staying. That was a very tough panel for you.
6:55 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
6:55 p.m.
A voice
We're really mean here.
6:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
We're now moving on to part 10, additional funding for the Canadian Securities Transition Office. I believe we have two officials. One official?
Mr. Marion, do you want to introduce yourself and your role?