Evidence of meeting #207 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was money.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Okay, that's just to make sure.
Did you also consult with CPHR, with the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources associations?
Director, Employment Equity, Compliance, Operations and Program Development Branch, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
We did put out a call. Our online consultation was open to everyone.
I'm just looking to Sharmin. I know we did have some input from some of the human resources groups. I'm not sure if that group specifically provided input.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Would you get back to the committee maybe after to tell us if they were in fact?
Director, Employment Equity, Compliance, Operations and Program Development Branch, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
Certainly.
Conservative
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
I'm thinking if this was an accounting change, we would have consulted—I'm assuming—with the CPA, and I would hope that we would do the same thing with the HR professionals who are responsible for keeping track of salary information for their employers.
Director, Employment Equity, Compliance, Operations and Program Development Branch, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
Absolutely.
Again, when we go out and do our consultations, that is a group that we reach out to for the most part. We do reach out to the CEOs as well as the employers, but also the HR groups.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Ms. Choudhury, did you want to add anything?
Are there any further questions over here?
Mr. Dusseault.
NDP
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Unless I'm mistaken, what you're asking for today is the regulatory authority to request more information or different information that would help you with your calculations.
When can we expect the regulations to be pre-published and then published?
Director, Employment Equity, Compliance, Operations and Program Development Branch, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
We're working on the regulations now. As to when they will be prepublished, that will all depend on Treasury Board dates, as you can appreciate, but we are in the drafting room now and hope to move these forward as soon as possible.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
In addition to the information you're providing to the committee, through the clerk, for Mr. Kmiec, could you also outline the 14 strata that you're doing this analysis on?
Hearing no further questions, thank you both very much.
We'll go to part 4, division 4, “Payments”. I know there are several sections under this. If all the witnesses want to come forward at the same time, that's fine. We'll deal with them section by section. There's “Climate Action Support”. There's “Payment in Relation to Infrastructure”. There's the “Federation of Canadian Municipalities” section and there's the “Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service”.
We'll bring them all up to the table. We'll go through them one by one, but we'll have the whole crew here.
Who's leading off on “Climate Action Support”?
We have Mr. Millar, director general, corporate finance, natural resources with Finance Canada; Mr. Fleming, executive director, implementation; and Ms. Meltzer, director general, environmental protection branch, with the ECCC.
Go ahead, Mr. Millar.
Samuel Millar Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We're here to speak initially to clause 129 of the bill. This is a proposed provision that is entitled, “Climate Action Support”. The provision would enable the Minister of Finance to specify another federal minister, such as the Minister of Indigenous Services, to be able to requisition payments from the consolidated revenue fund for payments to be made for purposes and in locations to be specified by the Minister of Finance.
The purpose of this provision is to allow for the return of a portion of the fuel charge collected in certain provinces that do not meet the federal standard for carbon pollution pricing. As additional context for the committee, I'd draw your attention to the Governor in Council's decision on March 26 of this year to amend schedule 1, part 1of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, to list four provinces in that schedule: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. It entered into force on April 1 of this year and applied the fuel charge in those provinces. As of April 1, proceeds of that fuel charge will begin to be collected by the federal government, and the provision that is proposed in the BIA would allow for a portion of those to be returned, as I mentioned, in a manner specified by the Minister of Finance.
I should note that the proposed provision puts a cap on the amount that could be requisitioned, and the cap is.... There's a bit of a complicated formula that's outlined in the bill, but in simple terms, it caps the amount based on the total proceeds collected by the fuel charge less any amounts that are rebated to provinces or individuals, including through the Income Tax Act. The climate action incentive returns to individual residents of those provinces, and that is the principle mechanism for rebating portions of those funds.
Just by way of context, I would also draw the committee's attention to the government's announcement in October in terms of its intent for how payments will be made pursuant to the provision, if approved by Parliament. The intent of the government is to use the payments to support sectors of the economy that can be expected to incur additional expenses related to carbon pricing. Those would be small and medium-sized enterprises, municipalities, universities, hospitals, schools, colleges, not-for-profit organizations and indigenous communities.
The budget plan does not specify particular amounts. Those amounts would be booked at the time when its funds are requisitioned, so that's just to explain further why the budget is silent on that, but it does include an indication of the government's intent to bring forward this legislative amendment in annex 3 of the budget plan.
I guess I'll conclude there, Mr. Chair.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Thank you, Mr. Millar.
You mentioned that there was a cap, but I missed to what that cap applies.
Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
The cap, and it's laid out in subclause 129(4), which would be a maximum, and—
Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
The maximum amount that could be requisitioned pursuant to the authorities here.
Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
I think requisition—I'm not a lawyer—is a legal term that relates to the authority to draw funds from the consolidated revenue fund.
Conservative
Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
For the purposes of making these payments.
Director General, Corporate Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Economic Development and Corporate Finance, Department of Finance
The payments that are defined in this section.