Previously it was assessed as business income?
Evidence of meeting #44 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pei.
Evidence of meeting #44 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pei.
October 18th, 2016 / 12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Executive Director, Canadian Camping and RV Council
Yes, up until this year, absolutely, every year, and nothing has changed. That's why everybody was surprised when this suddenly happened.
Executive Director, Canadian Camping and RV Council
About 5.8 million Canadians.
Executive Director, Canadian Camping and RV Council
Yes. We did an economic survey in 2014 of the whole RV and camping industry, and it was discovered that 5.8 million Canadians love to camp, and they go to private and government-owned campgrounds. There are about 2,300 private ones, which we represent, and 4,100 in total.
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
Thank you for that. I appreciate it.
To the Cooper Institute, thank you for coming today, and congratulations on your work on migrant workers. I was doing my work last night, and I saw that you've done basically the only work that's been done in the country on the topic.
In terms of numbers, what's the sheer volume of migrant workers across the country?
Coordinator, Cooper Institute
I do focus primarily on P.E.I., and there are other people who work on this across the country. I didn't come prepared with that number today, and I don't have a head for numbers.
Coordinator, Cooper Institute
In P.E.I. it has reduced drastically since the 2014 changes. We get the numbers only the year after. In 2015, it was around 700. The year before that it was 1,000. The year before that it was 1,200. Before that, it was generally a pretty steady climb, with the exception of one year when there was one plant barred from the program and another plant closed. Other than that, there had been a steady climb up until about 2013, when the changes started coming in and tightening up, and then in 2014 it dropped off significantly.
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
Are there any statistics on how many of these migrant workers have a path to permanent residency?
Coordinator, Cooper Institute
In Prince Edward Island, it would be only the workers in full-time year-round jobs. That would exclude all of the fishery industry, with the exception of a couple of mussel plants. Since Prince Edward Island can no longer hire migrant workers in stores or restaurants, those folks are excluded as well. It's a very small number.
Across Canada, for the entire seasonal agricultural worker program, everyone is excluded from access to permanent residency. Then it varies by province, depending on the nature of their provincial nominee program. I am talking specifically about low-wage migrant workers, that stream. Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and I think New Brunswick have PNPs that they can access. In Ontario, Alberta, and B.C., it's very restricted.
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
Thank you very much.
Mr. Pearson, congratulations on the success of your company. You're advocating today for the increase in the threshold from $500,000 to $750,000, so the 11% will now apply to the additional $250,000. What's the cost to the government treasury of your proposal?
President, CONTAX Inc.
Thank you for the question. I would encourage the ministry to do its own calculations on the numbers, but—
President, CONTAX Inc.
I would suggest the net impact to the government would be less than $100 million, but that money would be reinvested in future growth.
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
That's a bold assumption. There are so many economists who differ on this and say that decreasing corporate taxes doesn't generally lead to economic growth. We've seen that across the board. It's a fine balance between high corporate taxes.... I'm not advocating for higher corporate taxes, by any means. I'm advocating for the status quo on the small business tax.
You're increasing it by $250,000. I'm coming from a previous background as a corporate lawyer. What that's going to increase is just people on Bay Street finding out more ways to get more money out in their small businesses.
President, CONTAX Inc.
The money doesn't avoid taxation. Ultimately, at some point, the money comes out of the company and gets taxed anyway.
President, CONTAX Inc.
You may be delaying it, but if the corporation keeps the money and invests it in non-operating business activities, it gets taxed at the highest corporate tax rate. If it's reinvested in growing the operating activities of the business, i.e., in hiring more people, funding innovation and research and development, which is the government's agenda.... The government wants companies to invest in innovation and technology, and that funding will come, to a large degree, from small and mid-sized companies. That money is being retained in the company to fund those activities and if it's not used for those activities.... There is no downside to it.
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
That's debatable. We're not going to get into that now.
On the job credit program that you're advocating, I can understand the policy rationale for that, which is that government should offer incentives for the private sector to create jobs, so I'm not totally offside on that one.
President, CONTAX Inc.
But on the threshold limit, do you agree that the threshold limit is something that could be revisited?
Liberal
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
I think that's a matter of policy and financial decisions. as the minister of finance from your province is sitting here. There's a give and a take, right?. There's only so much revenue, and there are only so many expenses.
That's a nice segue into—
