Thank you very much.
I'll start off, and then I'll turn it over to my colleague Ben Dachis. We appreciate your inviting Ben and me to join you here today, and we hope our contributions will help you and your work on the 2022 federal budget and Bill C‑19.
By way of background, federal fiscal policy is a long-standing area of focus for the C.D. Howe Institute. Our work covers accountability and transparency, macro questions of debt and sustainability, detailed work on taxes and an annual shadow federal budget.
Our opening remarks will necessarily touch on only a few topics, mainly the elements of Bill C‑19 dealing with competition issues. We would be glad to answer questions on a wider range of topics if that would be helpful to members of the committee.
Although it's applicable to much more than Bill C‑19, I hope members will excuse my starting with a high-level comment about budgets and budget implementation bills, which is that there is too much in them.
A budget should be a fiscal document first and foremost. The key financial information—the pre-budget track for revenue, expense, the surplus or deficit, and the change in the accumulated surplus or deficit, plus what the budget projects are on those things—should be in the first 10 pages. Changes in taxes belong in budgets, as do changes in programs that affect expenses. Other program changes and commentary likely often belong in separate documents.
I have a comment about implementation bills. Even though Bill C‑19 deals with only some elements of the 2022 budget, it is a daunting document. Omnibus bills have a bad reputation for good reason, and I mean no disrespect to MPs but rather the opposite. I mean great respect to Parliament when I say that it ought not to be challenging for elected representatives to get on top of the text of a bill, let alone to anticipate the regulations and the contingencies and all the consequences.
Among the specific items that are covered in Bill C‑19 that Ben and I would answer questions on if there's interest would be the luxury tax. I did not know that Messieurs Mueller and Chartrand would be appearing on this issue. I think many economists would share the view that specific taxes of this kind are not good taxes. They distort purchases and production, as we've just heard from Mike and David. What they said about aircraft applies equally to motor vehicles and boats.
I'm not very enthusiastic about this but I'll say it anyway. If you think that it's really a good idea to single out specific products and services, use the GST. It's not as good as a low uniform rate on everything consumed, but it has some advantages compared to this.
Because Mr. Tobin...and we just heard also from Michael Holden on labour markets, I'll just quickly mention that a key test of any labour market policy—notably EI—is whether it impedes or promotes the matching of talent with opportunity. As everyone knows, the unemployment rate is at a record low. This is a good time to unwind provisions that encourage people in places or with employers that do not offer opportunities for stable jobs that pay well and offer advancement. We also would be happy, if people are interested, to answer questions with regard to vaping and the prohibition on foreign buyers of residential properties, among other things.
Let me just say that competition policy is a major focus of the provisions of Bill C‑19. It's also a major focus for the C.D. Howe Institute, particularly of my colleague Ben Dachis, who has been introduced already. He's our internal lead on the institute's competition policy council, and I turn my remaining time over to Ben.