Finance Committee on June 8th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Would either of you like to answer that question?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Yes, absolutely. I'm happy to ask them as well.

We have the $2.41-billion projection. We have had the exemption or suspension of certain amounts of the exemption. Are we on pace to achieve the $2.41 billion, or is it costing the treasury more or vice versa?

[Gervais Coulombe]

Thank you for your question.

The gas and diesel tax bases have been in place in Canada for decades. We have a very clear idea of consumption, and it's fairly stable. I will say that prices are still high, and that was the reason for the temporary 10¢-per-litre reduction on gasoline and 4¢-per-litre reduction on diesel.

Since there is no indication that the estimates included in the 2026 economic update were not reasonable, the number Mr. Turnbull and the government gave,

the $2.41 billion, continues to be, to my best knowledge, the best estimate we have. For completeness, the final number will actually be shown in the 2026-27 public accounts of Canada, which is typically tabled in the House of Commons in the fall.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

How is the excise tax remitted? Is it remitted on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis?

[Gervais Coulombe]

The excise tax is typically remitted on a monthly basis by the fuel distributors or fuel producers. For instance, for the month of April, the first month during which the exemption was available, returns were due to the CRA by the end of May.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

We're still in the early part of June. Do you have any estimates on what those numbers look like?

[Gervais Coulombe]

I don't have any estimates with me, but these would be very preliminary numbers with respect to the month of April.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

As a second line of questioning here, are there any showstoppers in terms of your department complying with amendment CPC-6?

[Gervais Coulombe]

I'm not in a position to identify here, before committee members, whether there are showstoppers or not. What I can tell you is that the best estimate has already been provided out there in the public—the $2.41-billion figure. In the amendment, the measure in itself is relatively straightforward. We're taking a rate of 10¢ per litre for gasoline and we're putting it to zero.

It would not be appropriate for me to take part in a political debate.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

No, that's fine. I'll just ask you the question specifically. Would it be reasonable for you to prepare a report on the financial impact of the suspension of the excise tax on fuel 30 days after, or would you need more like 60 days or 90 days?

[Gervais Coulombe]

I'm just not in a position to start to speculate on the timing. As I told the committee, these numbers are typically provided as part of the public accounts. Dozens of accountants in the federal family work hard to make sure that those public accounts are properly prepared and include all sorts of year-end adjustments.

Madam Chair, I will not speculate more on that particular matter.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I'm not asking you to speculate. I appreciate the hard-working civil servants and the work they do for Canadians every day, but my question is relatively specific. It's not speculation.

In accordance with this, it says:

(3) Within 30 days after September 7, 2026, the Minister of National Revenue, in collaboration with the Minister of Finance, must prepare a report on the application of this section

It would cause the report to be tabled in the House. You were telling me that the excise tax is reported on a monthly basis and that you would get the information to your department within about 30 days after. That's the evidence, as I understand it, that you've submitted.

I'm trying to get to whether this amendment of 30 days after is unreasonable. I'm actually thinking that it is. To be fair to the great people at the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency, I'm thinking that we need it to be more like 90 days or 120 days.

[Gervais Coulombe]

Madam Chair, I have already responded to that question. Thank you.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I'll keep asking until you answer.

I'm sorry, Chair, but they have an obligation to provide an answer. I've asked a specific question—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I know, Mr. Lawrence. You can keep asking the question, but the witness has provided an answer.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I will reframe it. I'll go back to the amendment for page 7, which says that the report must:

(a) set out the impact of the application of this section, including on fuel prices, transportation costs, food prices, household expenses and inflation;

If you were to prepare a report or if the finance department were to prepare a report, would 90 days be sufficient to do that?

[Gervais Coulombe]

Additionally, Madam Chair, I can say that the effects of the measure on the indicators listed in the motion are very difficult to isolate, as the government previously explained. On the basis of the information we were given, I don't think it would be possible to report on those indicators.

However, the total cost of the measure, the $2.41‑billion estimate, is still true, and the anticipated price reduction is 10¢ per litre for gasoline and 4¢ per litre for diesel. Of course, that doesn't include sales tax.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Mr. Coulombe, I'll finish with this. I really was not expecting this to be a controversial line of questioning. I thought it was quite simple. I'm quite disappointed that you can't figure out the amount of time it would take you to prepare a report after the filing. I was actually trying to be gracious to your department to make sure that we didn't overwhelm them. I'll try one more time, and then we'll leave this be.

You have testified so far that the excise tax is collected or reported on a monthly basis, and then that information is collated and put together a month later. It's about a two-month process. That's your testimony so far.

If you were to have to deliver that information to the House of Commons, after that month would 90 days be sufficient for your department to do it, or would that be creating too much of a burden on the great people of the Minister of Finance and the great people of the Minister of National Revenue?

[Gervais Coulombe]

Madam Chair, I've already answered that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.

We'll continue with Mr. Hallan.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

We already know that the government doesn't want to take off the taxes or extend the tax relief until the end of the year. We've tried multiple times. This is simply asking for tracking. It's asking for some data. That's all we're asking for.

It's disappointing to see how much the Liberal government keeps fighting having more transparency and accountability while at the same time not wanting to save Canadians more money. I find that ridiculous, so I wanted to add that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Hallan.

Mr. Kelly.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

I have a subamendment to this amendment.

I move that the amendment be subamended by replacing proposed paragraph 11(4)(c) with the following:

(c) include an estimate of the fiscal impact of the application of this section; and

(d) describe the methodology and data sources used to assess the impacts referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Could you please send that in writing to the clerks? Then we'll have to send it to translation in order to circulate it to the members.

Do we have unanimous consent to stand this clause?

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

I'm not sure that we should.

Mr. Turnbull, on the last one.... I see the logic of taking these things one at a time and not letting them pile up. Let's deal with this and deal with the subamendment.