Thank you very much, Mr. Brison, and thank you for notice of this amendment.
As the chair, I do have a ruling.
Bill C-13 provides for non-refundable tax credits in a number of areas. This amendment seeks to amend the bill so that certain of these non-refundable tax credits would become refundable tax credits. House of Common Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, states at pages 767-68:
Since an amendment may not infringe upon the financial initiative of the Crown, it is inadmissible if it imposes a charge on the public treasury, or if it extends the objects or purposes or relaxes the conditions and qualifications specified in the royal recommendation.
In the opinion of the chair, therefore, the amendment proposes a new scheme, which seeks the expenditure of funds for a new and distinct purpose. In so doing, it attempts to alter the terms and conditions of the royal recommendation. Therefore, I rule the amendment inadmissible, and this ruling is not debatable.