Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I'll be very brief here.
On this particular omnibus piece of legislation, I'm very surprised that the NDP members have said that they want to see this process go so quickly. There are 50-plus divisions in here. The ways and means motion typically allows for the CRA to start acting as if the legislation has passed, so if there are any changes to tax laws within the BIA, those would already be considered implemented by the CRA.
From my scanning of the BIA.... I always stand to be corrected because I believe MP Davies.... Congratulations to him on becoming their finance critic, but I think that when we talk about how this bill allows for the budget to go through, that's not quite right.
The supply process is typically what funds the initiatives of the government, and quite honestly, the government can give money to whichever province it wants. That's something that it already has a clear area on, and those decisions are usually addressed through the estimates process.
If you look in the BIA itself, Mr. Chair, there are areas about giving $100-million authorities to those who regulate our banks. There are so many things—CMHC changes, changes to the Criminal Code, money laundering, etc. I really think this whole thing about how we have to get this all wrapped up by the end of June really denotes a sense that the government is dictating to Parliament, rather than the government coming before Parliament saying, “Here is what we would like to discuss.”
I know there will be a lot of other commentary and a lot of other issues. I just want to flag those things. Ultimately, the government will have, through the CRA, its tax authority. Most of the money that the government plans on spending—because that's really what I believe this government cares about—is already handled through the supply process.
For members to be conflating the two does a disservice to not only this particular committee; it also creates a little bit more of a wrong idea about what the budget implementation act is there to do and what it's not there to do, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.