Thank you, Mr. Chair. I won't take much time.
Ms. Rempel Garner articulated very well much of what I was going to say.
I was not part of the health committee during the original debate, but I've certainly spoken to Mr. Webber about this legislation many times. This amendment—no offence, Mr. Sorbara—is a very big change from what all parties agreed to in the previous Parliament and have agreed to all along. Looking through the blues at some of the previous debates at the health committee on this, for the CRA to say previously that this wouldn't be a problem, that they have the wherewithal, the funding and the guidance from Parliament to do this with that tick box on the front page, and then to come back with a completely different position is alarming.
As to Mr. Sorbara's amendment, I know he said there would be a separate form as part of the T1 paperwork, but we have no assurance that's what it would be. Would it just be line 247 on your income tax return? Would it be an actual form that would be easily read and visible? The essence of Mr. Webber's legislation is to have this on the front page of the tax return. Every Canadian will see it. It will be prominent and well displayed. The CRA agreed to do that. No offence to the bureaucrats, but parliamentarians are the ones who are supposed to be providing that guidance and that direction to the bureaucracy. It's not the other way around.
The CRA could have brought these concerns to a previous Parliament or any time up until now. The assurance that we had from the CRA previously was that this was doable and would be done. Now to come back with an amendment.... Mr. Sorbara is being the messenger here so I don't want to put too much on his plate, but there's no assurance for us as parliamentarians where this message on becoming an organ and tissue donor would be in the application. He's saying it would be a form, but we don't know that because now they have gone from “Yes, we will have this as a tick box on the front page” to “We don't really want to do that. We could kind of commit to do this but...”. There are no assurances in the amendment Mr. Sorbara has offered.
I know, Mr. Chair, you've spoken in strong support of Mr. Webber's initiative during my short time on this committee. It is so rare when all of us as parliamentarians of different political stripes come together and put forward something that we all support, we all agreed to and we all worked hard to get to this point, and something we know is going to benefit Canadians. I just don't think it's right for bureaucrats within the CRA to say, “You know what? It would be easier for us or less work if we did x instead of what Parliament and the House of Commons has unanimously supported us to do”. I think that sends a poor message to Canadians whom Mr. Webber and many of you on this committee have worked with on this legislation. They are looking to us to follow through on what we committed to do in a previous Parliament and what we have committed to do up until now.
In conclusion, I know how hard Mr. Webber has worked on this. To get that support from all parliamentarians is something I think we should respect and not change on the whim of the CRA, which again isn't giving us any assurance on what it will look like. In the spirit of the legislation, I cannot support these amendments and I would certainly encourage my colleagues on the committee not to support the amendments as well and to maintain what we had all agreed to over the past several years.
To get so close to the finish line...and I know Mr. Webber was so close in the previous Parliament and that was a tough pill to swallow. To get here again, so close to the finish line, and then get this wrench thrown into the system is really unfortunate. I hope we can all respect what we agreed to before, not support the amendment and support the spirit of this legislation for the benefit of all our constituents.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.