Finance Committee on Dec. 13th, 2021

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Burnaby North—Seymour, BC]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Where did I hear that from?

Yes, Mr. Beech.

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Burnaby North—Seymour, BC]

It's from the television in the sky.

I have not received the draft. I don't know if members there locally have, but I have been refreshing my P9, and I have not received it yet.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Okay. You weren't on the list. You'll be on the list now.

We are also trying to get Ms. D'Souza, if she's available, in case you have any questions.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Sure.

I think probably what happened is that somebody lapsed back to when the Liberals had said they wouldn't have parliamentary secretaries on committee. They must have been in that frame of mind, and then they accidentally left him off the list. They probably forgot that you guys had gone back on that commitment. Some of us remembered, though. It's okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Mr. Beech, go ahead.

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Burnaby North—Seymour, BC]

I can confirm, Mr. Chair, that I now have a draft. I'm reading it now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Ms. Dzerowicz, go ahead.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Just looking at the revised subclause 1(18.1), I see there is still paragraph (b). Did we not delete that or eliminate that in an earlier vote? If we did, I just don't know why it is still there. Was it inadvertently left there?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

That will be answered by the legislative clerk.

[Philippe Méla]

Yes, you're right. Paragraph (b) was taken out, but Isabelle didn't know because she was not—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Okay. I just wanted to make sure that we're all clear on that, if that's okay.

[Philippe Méla]

Yes.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Philippe, perhaps you could let us know exactly what Isabelle did here.

[Philippe Méla]

What Ms. D'Souza explained to me is that they basically translated Mr. McLean's proposal into legislative terms. In terms of the fiscal effects, it would be more for the officials to answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I have Mr. Baker, and then Madame Chatel.

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Thanks very much.

On this revised amendment, do the officials have a copy of this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

No, the officials do not have a copy.

The clerk is just about to send it to them.

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

I wanted to ask our officials to help us understand what the implications of this would be. Maybe I will give the clerk a second to do that.

My concern is understanding.... Now that we have this new language—and I know it was developed with the best of intentions—what are the implications? I'm not a tax lawyer, but let me ask this. Is it possible that the language in yellow—“taxable dividends to an individual who is a holder of common shares of the company or of the subsidiary of the company”—would in any way inadvertently capture funds that were meant for business operations? Would that inhibit a company from operating a business in any way?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I'm not sure if the officials have received that information.

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

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Yes, go ahead on a point of order.