Transport Committee on Oct. 29th, 2024

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

One of my big concerns about this tax on recreational boats is that the workers who make a living servicing the boats, doing repairs and general maintenance, might not see new business because those purchases are not being made in Canada. Do you share that concern as well?

[Rick Layzell]

Gravely.... We share that concern about the people who haul boats, clean boats, do prepurchase prep work, winterize boats and store boats, yes. Those are the blue-collar jobs we know have already been lost in this sector.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Do you have any idea how many jobs have been lost since this tax was implemented?

[Rick Layzell]

We had a survey running in the first 12 months of the tax's implementation. At that time, we were showing over 100. We have not had a current survey in 2024. Certainly it has expanded since then.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Is that in Ontario or nationally?

[Rick Layzell]

It's across the country, representative of about 200 companies that had reported.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

I noticed that the tax does exempt certain types of vessels, namely for commercial fishing. What I'm concerned about—and I come from an area of the country where lots of people come from around the world to go fishing—is that it doesn't exempt boats used for tourism. In my community, that would be indigenous tourism. Has this had an impact on tourism in Ontario and the type of equipment that tourism operators and small business owners are using?

[Rick Layzell]

It certainly has affected the type of equipment, because what's happening is that the operators are simply not updating the vessels that are on our waterways because of the tax; so, from a type of equipment perspective, yes.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

I'm just going to turn to the carbon tax for a minute.

How many boat manufacturers are there in Canada?

[Rick Layzell]

I wouldn't have the exact number. It wouldn't be over 15 in the large scale. We have Princecraft in Quebec, Stanley Boats in Ontario, Westwinn in British Columbia, and a number on Vancouver Island. It wouldn't be 20.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

There are only a small number of manufacturers in the country building recreational vessels that would be subject to this tax. Is that correct?

[Rick Layzell]

That's correct. We estimate that 96% of the boats that come into Canada come from the U.S.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Why in the world do you believe the government thought it was a good idea to put this tax on Canadian workers and businesses when there is such a small manufacturing base in the country already?

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

We're going to stop the time there. You have one minute and 20 seconds left.

Go ahead, Ms. Koutrakis.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I'm just wondering, Mr. Chair, about the relevance of this line of questioning, given that the study we're doing today has nothing to do with the luxury tax.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Come on, guys. We're talking about boating. The tax applies to boating. This could not be more relevant. This is ridiculous.

Could we please get on with the questioning?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I'm going to let you continue with your line of questioning, Mr. Vis.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Before that, I'd like to respond to the point of order raised by Ms. Koutrakis.

Actually, under the government—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Mr. Vis, that is not a point of order. She had her point of order. I ruled. The floor is yours. You have a minute and 20 seconds left.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Okay.

Well, in response to that question, why in the world would this government impose such a punitive tax on such a small number of boat manufacturers in Canada?

[Rick Layzell]

I wish I could truly answer that question.

What I can tell you is that the industry travelled to Ottawa repeatedly to represent and explain what the projections and forecasts were. Sadly, our forecasts are coming true. Ottawa chose not to listen.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

That's shameful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Vis.

Next, we'll go to Mr. Iacono.

Mr. Iacono, the floor is yours, sir. You have five minutes.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses.

Ms. Crête, Mr. Martel and Mr. Furtado, how does the Municipalité de Lac‑Simon educate boaters about protecting the environment? What do you use as reference material and what university studies in particular? Can you please provide this information?