Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let's move on to cannabis taxation. This measure is under clauses 169 to 171 of the bill. It amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to allow the Minister of Finance on behalf of the Government of Canada, with the approval of the Governor in Council, to enter into coordinated cannabis taxation agreements with provincial governments. Such agreements currently exist—for example, in the context of the harmonized sales tax.
Among other things, these agreements would allow for the application of cannabis product taxes—under a single act of Parliament—that would be collected, administered, and enforced by Canada, and that would have rates that may be set on a province-by-province basis. The agreements would also permit the Government of Canada to make payments to the government of a province in respect of the revenues from cannabis taxation.
A coordinated approach to the taxation of cannabis would help to reduce the amount of contraband cannabis on the future legal market, while supporting other key objectives such as keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth and reducing compliance costs for businesses.
The authority to implement the federal cannabis tax rate and the additional rate with respect to the provinces and territories entering into the coordinated cannabis taxation agreement will follow the usual legislative and regulatory process in due course. Those amendments do not appear in the bill before you. This simply involves the ability to continue negotiations with the provinces.
That concludes my presentation on part 4 of the bill.