Thanks, Chair.
Thanks to all the witnesses for being here today.
I have a motion to move from the floor. I'm sorry for the slight interruption, but I'm hoping that we can deal with it very swiftly and get back to the testimony that is so important to the pre-study that we're doing.
I'll read it into the record:
As it relates to the committee's future business, it be agreed that:
i. the committee dedicate its meeting on Thursday, May 9th, 2024, to hearing from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and officials, on the subject matter study of Bill C-69;
ii. the committee dedicate its regular meetings on May 9th, 21st and 23rd, 2024, to consideration of the subject matter study of Bill C-69, barring referral of the bill to committee; and that all evidence gathered as part of the pre-study be considered as evidence in the committee's full study of the bill, once referred to committee;
iii. any amendments to the bill be submitted no later than 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, May 23rd, 2024;
iv. clause-by-clause consideration of the bill start no later than 12:00 PM EST on May 27th, 2024, and that the chair be empowered to set up extended hours and request additional House resources on that day; if the committee has not completed clause-by-clause consideration of the bill by 11:00 AM on May 28th, 2024, all remaining amendments submitted to the committee shall be deemed moved, the chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively, without further debate on all remaining clauses and proposed amendments, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, as well as all questions necessary to report the bill to the House and to order the chair to report the bill to the House as soon as possible;
v. following the completion of the study of Bill C-69, the committee dedicate no less than two meetings on its study on the financialization of housing, followed by no less than two meetings to consider the draft report on the current state of play on green finance, green investment, transition finance and transparency, standards and taxonomy;
vi. the committee dedicate its regular meetings on the week of June 17th, 2024, on the committee's study on inflation in the current Canadian economy.
I will speak to that. I've sent it to the clerk, Chair, in both official languages.
We tried to schedule the rest of our meetings in the agenda pre-committee meeting. I note that the chair hasn't been able to report anything back, so we did not achieve consensus. Really, we're hoping to take a very collaborative approach and work with all parties. Unfortunately, we've seen that the Conservatives are not willing to collaborate. Yesterday, we saw the Conservatives in the House move an amendment to delay the second reading of the budget implementation act. I'm bringing this motion forward today because the budget implementation act needs to be the top priority, and I believe that Canadians are truly counting on us.
I believe very strongly that this budget includes many measures that Canadians really need right now. The national school food program is just one of many that I know Mr. Davies and I and many others have worked on for quite a number of years. We're finally seeing the commitment to a billion dollars over five years. Feeding an additional 400,000 kids per year is truly gratifying to see in this year's BIA. We need to get that accomplished. Canadian families certainly are relying on us.
The Conservatives stand up every day in the House and cite increasing food bank lineups. I think it's pretty inconsistent with the position that they seem to be purporting to hold, which is that somehow they care about families who are suffering from food insecurity but are then not supporting a budget that's attempting to feed 400,000 more kids in Canada.
We know that the investment tax credits in this budget, as we've already heard this morning—the clean tech manufacturing ITC and the clean hydrogen ITC—are things that industry is asking for. They have been asking for us to fast-track these ITCs. They need predictable timelines for their implementation. Many of the large projects to decarbonize our economy are relying on those ITCs to move forward.
On research funding, I was in my riding and met with researchers at the Ontario Tech University, which is my local university. The researchers were ecstatic about the $3.5 billion for science and research that is in this budget, the tri-council funding, the research infrastructure, and the additional dollars for grads, post-grads and fellows.
Those are things that Canadian researchers are counting on. They'll prevent brain drain in our economy. These things have been cited for quite some time. Many Conservative members have actually advocated to address brain drain in this country. I hope that we're aligned on wanting to get those budget measures through the committee and back to the House as soon as possible.
With respect to housing, I talked to a senior from my riding yesterday who's concerned about rental construction and our need for more affordable rental housing. There is a significant amount of financing for more rental construction in this budget. There are also infrastructure dollars to help municipalities and provinces that are struggling to fund some of the infrastructure for new housing development.
The budget includes the Canada carbon rebate for small businesses. I will note that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business was very vocal about this and the Conservatives were very vocal about it, yet they're going to stand against a budget that will get those returns back to small businesses across the country. I note that the number is 600,000.
There is a major investment in artificial intelligence of $2.4 billion in this budget. It proposes to increase productivity across Canada, and it will have a significant impact in future years.
I will also just note quickly that the employee ownership trust is another measure that's in here. The incentives are included in this year's BIA. They're essential for ensuring that there's an uptake of that option, that succession model that will allow owners to sell to their employees. It is an exceptional measure for the redistribution of wealth in a way that also protects Canadian businesses.
Last, I also will just say that between our last meeting and this meeting, I ensured that I kept my word to the committee. I have secured the Deputy Prime Minister to come to the committee on Thursday for an hour of testimony. I truly hope that we can dispense with this motion quickly so that we don't jeopardize that appearance and can hear the important testimony from our Minister of Finance, who's ultimately accountable for this budget.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for indulging me. I look forward to dispensing with this motion quickly.