Mr. Chair, the government is using this clause to retroactively change the rules and when a tax dispute with a number of the municipalities.... This is a $50 million to $60 million question in terms of revenue from municipal parking meters. Municipalities already face revenue challenges, and the federal government ought not to use a retroactive amendment to deny municipalities these revenues.
My amendment would change the effective date from December 17, 1990 to the budget date in March 2013 when the municipalities first learned of this rule change. The rule would still be changed, but it would not be applied retroactively.