Evidence of meeting #61 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Great. You're so generous. Thanks. I wish OGGO, the government operations committee, was as kind.
You've commented on page 2 that you're requesting $65 million, of which $40 million is to implement and administer, etc., hiring new people, and $25 million is aimed at enhancing tax collections. What is that for, the $25 million, please?
4:20 p.m.
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commissioner, Finance and Administration Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
Basically, to increase our capacity for collections.
4:20 p.m.
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commissioner, Finance and Administration Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
We just want to consolidate—
4:20 p.m.
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commissioner, Finance and Administration Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
It's mainly people, getting more collectors in the door. We have more volume. It's going to help us also by consolidating certain of these activities. We're going to be more efficient.
Basically, we needed to rebase the number of people who actually work on the collections front. Budget 2016 actually announced $351 million over five years to attack our collections, where we have seen a growth in our debt over the years, so we need to make sure that we properly manage that growth.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
You just quickly mentioned $65 million, $40 million of which is specialists and additional auditors, and then you have $25 million, which is also for people. Is it just for a different class of collectors, a lower end, so to speak, or different investigators?
That's probably my time.
November 24th, 2016 / 4:20 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, International, Large Business and Investigating Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
They are specialists dedicated to people who non-comply offshore, so we have dedicated collections officers who work with those files. If the money is offshore, it's harder to collect.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
That's what I'm looking for. Thank you. I appreciate your time.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you.
Mr. McCauley, on the FINTRAC question, because one minister couldn't come today and is here Monday, the order would make it look like they're both here the same day, so the Minister of Finance will be here when he can be, and I believe it's Monday.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the minister for being with us today.
I'm going to ask my questions in English.
We had the opportunity, Diane, you and I, when you invited me along to the tax centre in Winnipeg, to see the four football fields of tax specialists working very hard. It was rather impressive. I heard you mention that you're going to be expanding by 500 the number of employees. I wonder if you could discuss why you will be expanding by 500 employees in that tax centre.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
As I said earlier, we want to improve client service and are focusing our efforts on specific areas. Our goal is always to become more effective and efficient.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
Merci.
I also had the opportunity of hearing from a number of employees who work, for instance, in aboriginal programming on trying to increase the number of people who were aware of tax programs. Will any of these monies be going toward, for instance, ensuring that people know about the Canada child benefit and other elements like that, other programs?
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Right now, in fact, we are working with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. We have set up pilot projects to reach out to all indigenous communities. We are also working with Service Canada to get the poorest Canadians, those who were not receiving their benefits or who were not aware of what was available to them, the money they are owed.
I am particularly concerned about indigenous communities, people who live in the regions, Inuit, seniors, those with little education, and homeless people struggling with mental health issues. They are groups I was asked to pay particular attention to. They are all clients of the agency and need to receive the benefits they are entitled to. A number of departments have been mobilized in an effort to reach these groups.
Mr. Ouellette, you were there when we met with people who were working on pilot projects targeting indigenous communities. Through those efforts, mothers were able to get up to $20,000 in family allowance benefits. These are measures people didn't even know were accessible to them. Getting the right people the money they are owed is important.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
There is a measure that caught my attention, and Mr. Gallivan discussed this problem.
At some point, rather than provide taxpayers with hard-to-understand information, communications staff at the agency wanted to simplify the information so that people could understand their tax returns and respond to issues in a timely manner, without the help of an accountant or some other person.
Do you have a way to tell whether that measure will have the desired effect? Will it be easier for people to understand the language used in the forms?
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
In Canada, 51% of the population is functionally illiterate. These are people who have trouble understanding our forms, and that's why it is so important to simplify forms with the auto-fill service. The people who really need the tax benefits have to be able to complete the necessary forms and receive the money they are due.
At the agency, we keep track of everything and we are results-oriented. We want to make sure we have comparative data for each year, so we can measure the real impact of the pilot projects and their success rates in indigenous and other communities where people need access to their benefits.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
I'd also like to know what morale is like among the accountants and employees in your department. Has there been an improvement on that front? Do you have any recent figures on their level of job satisfaction?
4:25 p.m.
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commissioner, Finance and Administration Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
I don't have those figures on hand. The government conducts an employee survey every three years. Obviously, it asks all kinds of questions about issues such as work environment and job satisfaction. Results from the most recent surveys were fairly positive as regards employees' work environment, job satisfaction, and sense that they received the support they needed.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
I would just like to add that, as part of my mandate, at the beginning of the year, I started visiting all of the CRA's offices, precisely to reach out to employees, see what's happening, and find out what they think. I can tell you that staff are very proud of the work they're doing, and everyone is glad to do their part to achieve improvements.
In fact, when I visited the Winnipeg office, you had an opportunity to see just how much people cared about their work, wanted to do a good job, and make a contribution, whether they were involved in the small business support program or other programs.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
4:25 p.m.
Liberal