Evidence of meeting #62 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A video is available from Parliament.
6:15 p.m.
Senior Policy Analyst, Labour Markets, Employment and Learning, Department of Finance
As a general rule, changes to employment insurance legislation are not modelled, because that requires us to make assumptions about behavioural change based on EI rules, and there is no sound mathematical conceptual basis for doing so.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
I've received a lot of calls from people and business owners. In some cases, it is Niagara food businesses, and in other cases, it is about tourism related to the seasonal side. One of the e-mails I received was from someone who operates a very large tourist business, who said:
We are quite concerned about the changes to the EI system.... It really does have some potentially damaging elements to it. Given the seasonality of the tourism industry we have quite a large number of staff that we will most likely lose from year to year as a result of these changes. The time, distraction, training costs and loss of experience will be extremely difficult.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Further it said:
I see the Cdn Federation of Independent Business supports these changes. [I'm a member, but] I cannot for the life of me understand why....
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
To what extent were seasonal businesses and industries engaged in the consultation process? We're getting a lot of negative feedback and real fear as to the impact on these businesses and whether they can survive.
6:15 p.m.
Director General, Employment Insurance Policy, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
The proposed changes are going to apply to all Canadians, regardless of what type of industry they work in.
As for consultation, it was done through our ongoing departmental consultations. Different organizations were consulted as well as ordinary Canadians.
In terms of the potential impact on specific industries, it's not for me to comment. It will depend on the specific circumstances of each industry.
6:15 p.m.
A voice
No.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Okay. Thank you very much for being with us here today.
We'll call officials forward for division 44, Customs Tariff act.
You have a point of clarification, Ms. Glover.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Shelly Glover Conservative Saint Boniface, MB
I believe Ms. Nash wanted to invite a different division to come forward, Immigration. Now's her chance because if we start with these we won't get to it.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I call the meeting back to order.
We will have the officials from Finance, I believe, on the Customs Tariff act, which is division 44.
I'll just remind colleagues that we have bells at 6:30 and we have votes at 6:45. I'm not certain at this point how long votes will take, so for those who are on our panel at 6:30, obviously the committee will be coming back after that time.
We welcome our officials to the table. Could you give a brief overview of this section, and then we'll have questions.
6:20 p.m.
Director, International Trade Policy Division, Department of Finance
Thank you.
My name is Dean Beyea. I was here earlier. I am the director of international trade at the Department of Finance. I'm here with my colleague, Patrick Halley, and Alec Attfield from the Canada Border Services Agency.
Division 44 amends the Customs Tariff. There are two primary changes. First, there is a tariff reduction that supports the energy industry. Clauses 620 and 621 eliminate a 5% tariff on imported fuels used in energy and electricity generation. The tariff was imposed recently as a result of a CBSA tariff classification decision, therefore the budget simply restores duty-free status. This will enhance the competitiveness of the sector and reduce the cost of electricity generation.
The second element amends the travellers' exemptions in the Customs Tariff. Those are clauses 622 to 624. They amend the Customs Tariff to increase the value of goods that may be imported duty and tax free by returning Canadians after absences from the country of more than 24 hours. The amount moves from $50 to $200; and for absences greater than 48 hours, from $400 to $800. This measure will facilitate the border processing of Canadian travellers and harmonize the more than 24-hour and 48-hour exemption levels with those of the United States.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you very much for that overview.
We'll go to Ms. Nash, please.
6:20 p.m.
NDP
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Hello, and welcome to the finance committee.
I want to ask a question about the increase in the ability of travellers to the United States or to any other country to bring back an increased value of goods to Canada. Diane Brisebois, the head of the Retail Council of Canada, has expressed concern for Canadian retailers—that those in border communities could be affected by these increased customs allowances for Canadians, which could impact retailers, especially along the border.
What is your response to that? Have you done any studies, or do you anticipate what the outcome will be?
6:20 p.m.
Director, International Trade Policy Division, Department of Finance
With respect to travellers' exemptions, what has traditionally been the most sensitive item for border communities are cross-border shoppers. Most of the trips are less than 24 hours, and there is no change to that exemption. There is no exemption for day shoppers, if you use that term. It's simply the ones greater than 24 hours and greater than 48 hours. For overnight stays we will see—
6:20 p.m.
NDP
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
If somebody wants to shuffle down to Buffalo and spend a night there, they can now bring four times their previous exemption. So if I'm on the Fort Erie side of the border, as a retailer I'm concerned because even though the dollar is quite high, that isn't always reflected in prices here in Canada so a lot of Canadians do shop across the border.
Have you done any studies, or do you have any statistics about what you anticipate the impact will be on retailers with these specific changes?
6:20 p.m.
Director, International Trade Policy Division, Department of Finance
We've looked at travellers. There are very distinct patterns, I think you would say. The variants seem to be in trips. The trips between one and six days are very constant. They have been for a considerable amount of time. There have been changes to the travellers' exemptions that haven't shown an impact on trips, most recently the greater-than-48 hour trips in 2007. Those numbers have been constant.
Where the travel, particularly to the United States, changes is in less than 24 hours and more than seven days. The more-than-seven-days adjustment is now harmonized with the 48-hour increase from—
6:25 p.m.
NDP
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
In answer to my question, are you saying there has been no economic impact study of what these changes will mean for retailers, especially near the Canada-U.S. border?
6:25 p.m.
Director, International Trade Policy Division, Department of Finance
No. We're saying there hasn't traditionally been an impact. What this is going to do—
6:25 p.m.
NDP
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Sorry. My specific question is, has there been any study of the economic impact of these changes? I know you're saying historically there hasn't been, but have you done any costing on what this could mean for retailers?
6:25 p.m.
Director, International Trade Policy Division, Department of Finance
We've done an internal analysis to assess the cost of this measure.