Finance Committee on Feb. 14th, 2022

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you.

I hope you can appreciate.... I recognize that it's difficult, but it is very difficult to project revenue projections, and the department's track record of projecting revenues on tax increases typically has not been quite accurate.

I'm hoping that you can provide to this committee the analysis under which you are making assumptions or provide the assumptions that you're extrapolating so that we can evaluate those assumptions.

On the second purpose for that measure, is there any analysis that tries to identify how much inventory will be released back into the market?

[Phil King]

Yes, again, we have one example to appeal to in Canada. That's the B.C. speculation and vacancy tax. After the first year of that tax, the number of taxpaying entities, persons or organizations dropped by about 50%. That's because the property was either sold or rented out.

We've built in some behavioural responses to our revenue estimates. You'll see that in the first year it goes from $170 million to $145 million, about a 10% drop. In the second year there's about a 5% drop to $140 million.

Again, there's very little information, data or other examples on which to base these estimates, so these are the assumptions for the time being.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you.

I understand there have been some comments made by U.S. congressmen, talking about reciprocal taxes. I hope we're considering that in this.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Are you aware of any analysis from any other parts of the government that look at the impact of reciprocity or retaliation from, say, our American counterparts on this tax?

[Phil King]

I don't have any information to share with the committee on that.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Would this tax apply to the vacant apartment that is owned by Mr. Gadhafi's son, which SNC paid $200,000 to renovate?

[Pierre Mercille]

I am not aware of the situation you're talking about, but in any case it would be for the CRA to basically make that determination because they are responsible for the administration of the tax.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We are moving now to the Liberals and MP Chatel.

Madame Chatel, you have five minutes.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Like my colleague, Mr. Lawrence, to me agriculture and our farmers are the future of this country, especially in food security and the turn to the green economy.

I would really like to know what is in Bill C-8 that would support our farmers in this green transition?

[Maximilian Baylor]

Maybe just at a high level, as I indicated in the opening remarks there is the measure to return the fuel charge proceeds to farmers, as per the budget 2021 commitment. It's basically returning $100 million from what is collected under the fuel charge directly to farmers. As indicated, that is based on the expenditures, the expenses, the farmers have made.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Baylor, could you also explain why, exactly, this measure is limited to certain provinces?

[Maximilian Baylor]

Those are the provinces in which the backstop applies, so those are the four.

My colleague, Phil King, might have a bit more to say on that front.

[Phil King]

It's very simply that the four provinces where this federal fuel charge applies are the provinces where the funds are raised and the provinces where they will be returned.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you very much.

It's more important than ever to protect young students who are going to school during the pandemic. We don't know what new viruses will come, but we must prepare for the future. We must ensure that our schools stay open to prevent our children from being victims of another pandemic.

What measures are provided in the bill to help schools acquire better ventilation systems to deal with other airborne viruses like the COVID‑19?

[Galen Countryman]

Mr. Chair, I can speak to that.

In part 4 of Bill C-8 there is a $100 million top-up to the safe return to class fund that will provide the provinces and territories funding to help them offset the costs of improving ventilation in schools.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you very much.

Many items in the bill would help meet the needs of the provinces and territories in combating COVID‑19.

Please tell us how you determine funding amounts for some of those provincial programs and about the consultations you've conducted with the provincial and territorial governments.

[Galen Countryman]

With respect to part 4, the amounts for each province and territory are specified in the bill. This was based on [Technical difficulty—Editor] the number of children aged 4 to 18 with a $500,000 base amount for each jurisdiction.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Could you tell us how funding for the purchase of rapid diagnostic tests referred to in Bill C‑10 is factored into the funding provided?

[Cameron MacDonald]

The funding referred to under Bill C‑8 is scheduled for January and February

The funding referred to in Bill C‑10 is planned for the coming months.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Will that funding be in addition to that provided under Bill C‑8, which we're considering today?

[Cameron MacDonald]

Yes, it will.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

That's good.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Time is up, Madame Chatel.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you.