Finance Committee on May 30th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Members, if we could, please keep chatter down.

MP Dzerowicz, please go ahead.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Please don't take that time away from me. Thank you.

Please go ahead.

[Lindsay Gwyer]

The first aspect of the measure, as I mentioned, is to allow a greater amount to be withdrawn from their RRSPs. For people who have that amount in their RRSP, that would allow them to put a greater amount towards their home purchase.

In addition, there is a change to the timeline for when amounts need to be repaid. People who withdraw amounts under the plan need to repay them within 15 years under the current rules, and that 15-year period starts to run in the year after they purchase the house—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I'm sorry. Wasn't it five years after they've purchased their house?

[Lindsay Gwyer]

Yes, I'm sorry. It's two years after they've purchased the house under the current rules, and then that's being extended to five years.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Okay. My question is, how will these two measures help first-time buyers in these challenging times?

[Lindsay Gwyer]

The first aspect of the measure would allow those people who do have that greater amount in their RRSP to put a greater amount towards their down payment. Obviously, that would give them.... They would otherwise be able to take that money from their RRSP, but they would have to pay tax on it. It just provides them with more money up front to make their purchase.

The second portion of the measure makes it so that they have a longer amount of time before they need to start repaying it. That could obviously help people to put those funds towards something else. They won't need to be contributing them back to their RRSP—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you very much. I'm sorry. I don't have any more time. We've taken three minutes on that, unfortunately.

For the small business carbon rebate, small businesses are very excited in my riding. They have been waiting for the carbon rebate for a number of years right now.

I'm not sure who's going to be responding to this, but can someone just go through who is eligible and how it works? They want to know: “Julie, how fast can I get this money, and how can I apply?” How would you respond to small businesses in my riding?

[Maximilian Baylor]

Absolutely. Here, in order for the amounts to be distributed as quickly as possible, what has been implemented is essentially an automatic system to redistribute the amounts. The way it's established, it's basically going to run off the tax returns for the 2023 taxation year for businesses.

For eligible businesses, which are essentially Canadian-controlled private corporations with 499 employees or less, if they file a tax return, based on that filing, the CRA, the Canada Revenue Agency, will determine their eligibility and their number of employees, and then will issue the payments on that basis. Really, what they have to do is file their tax returns before July 15 of this year, for the previous year. Based on that, they will receive their payments.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

If we assume the budget implementation act is passed by the end of June, when does the rebate actually occur, and is it retroactive for three years?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I need a very short answer.

[Maximilian Baylor]

It's retroactive. It's the entire period from 2019-20 to 2023-24—those five years. That's the first payment.

I'm sorry. What was the first part of the question?

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

When would they get the money back? Is it July or August?

[Maximilian Baylor]

The objective is that, once the legislation gets royal assent, the CRA can put in place the systems. Based on that, they can assess. The hope is that, before the end of the year, the payments can go out.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, MP Dzerowicz.

Now it's on to MP Ste-Marie for two and a half minutes.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Mr. Repetto.

We understand that there is no mechanism for sharing the 15% global minimum tax with the provinces. In the case of businesses, Quebec and Alberta manage their income tax autonomously.

Can you confirm that if Quebec decides to create a 15% global minimum tax on income that Quebec multinationals earn worldwide, this taxation could take precedence over federal income tax?

[Peter Repetto]

To the best of my knowledge, there's no prohibition as part of the multilaterally agreed pillar two of the global minimum tax framework on subnational jurisdictions that are implementing pillar two.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Can you move back from the mic a little? There's a popping for the interpreters.

Thank you.

[Peter Repetto]

To the best of my knowledge, there is no prohibition on subnational jurisdictions implementing the pillar two global minimum tax. When I say “no prohibition”, I mean one that's included within pillar two of the multilaterally agreed framework for the global minimum tax.

However, if a subnational jurisdiction were to implement its own global minimum tax, I think that could pose problems in terms of coordination with the federal global minimum tax that would be implemented by the proposed global minimum tax act in part 2 of the bill. I guess the knock-on effects of any such coordination issues could include certain adverse impacts with respect to the global status of the federal global minimum tax.

When I say “the status”, I mean.... There's a peer review process that is currently under way at the OECD, or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, whereby all of the inclusive framework countries—there are 145 that have joined this two-pillar plan for international tax reform—will be evaluating Canada's legislation in terms of its compliance with the pillar two framework. When I say there could be adverse impacts on the status of Canada's legislation, I mean this as part of the peer review process. Those other jurisdictions may raise certain concerns about the interaction between the provincial and federal global minimum tax in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Mr. Repetto and MP Ste-Marie.

We're well over time.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Now it's over to MP Davies.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Could I have the witness on immigration detention and the Food and Drugs Act, please?

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In a recent inquest into the death of Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, a refugee with a lengthy history of mental illness, who died in a segregated cell in Canadian immigration detention in 2015, the jury's first recommendation was to stop the use of jails for detaining migrants. Immigration Minister Miller has insisted that federal prisons will be used only for “a very small segment of the [migrant] population”, which he has described as “not criminals” but “high-risk” individuals who often have “severe mental health problems”.

How do you respond to suggestions that correctional facilities are not appropriate mental health care facilities for these people?

[Carl Desmarais, Director General, Inland Enforcement Directorate, Canada Border Services Agency]

I'm Carl Desmarais from the Canada Border Services Agency. I'm the director general responsible for the inland enforcement directorate. Thank you for the question.

With respect to mental health, it is definitely a vulnerability factor that the CBSA considers when it makes an initial decision to detain an individual. That remains and is not being changed by this particular bill.

I also will note that through the interim federal health program, the CBSA also receives funding specifically dedicated to providing health services to immigration detainees. These services range from psychologists and psychiatry...and we have a 24-7 nurse who is available to provide care as well.

All immigration detainees are being run through an intake process whereby their mental health is examined by specialists. That continues. It is a practice that would be carried over should the legislative provisions that are currently contained within this particular bill be enacted. Those same types of services would continue to be provided.