Thank you, Chair.
Good morning to members of the committee and good morning to Canadians watching, and happy birthday to your son. I'm sure he is up watching you.
I want to start by thanking you for the work you do. I have obviously been blessed to be here—I'm in my eleventh year now—and I sat on HUMA for 10 years and know the important work committees do for our government and for our country. To everybody around the horseshoe, I want to thank you sincerely for the work you do.
I want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and to discuss the work Canada's new government and the Canada Revenue Agency have undertaken to uphold tax compliance in the trucking industry. Trucking is vital to connecting Canada's vast and expansive territory and bridging our united economies, but not at the expense of industry standards and tax obligations.
Too many trucking companies and the drivers they hire are in non-compliance with tax obligations. Some companies erroneously and deliberately misclassify their truck drivers as independent contractors instead of staff employees. These practices undercut competition in the sector, unevenly punish rule-abiding companies and deprive workers of the benefits and pensions they are owed.
That is why, to restore fairness to the sector and to ensure workers are receiving the benefits they deserve, the budget we announced earlier this week would provide $77 million over four years starting in 2026-27, with ongoing funding of $19.2 million annually, for the Canada Revenue Agency to lift the moratorium on the penalties for failure to report fees for service transactions in the trucking industry and to implement a focused program that addresses non-compliance issues related to personal service businesses and reporting fees for service.
Our budget also proposes amending the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act to allow the Canada Revenue Agency to share taxpayer information and confidential information as it relates to the classification of workers with Employment and Social Development Canada. This would provide Employment and Social Development Canada with access to better information, which could in turn allow it to more effectively address the issue of driver misclassification in the trucking industry.
Strengthening compliance would address long-standing concerns raised over tax avoidance schemes and ensure proper contributions to the programs and services Canadians rely on. Compliance with reporting requirements would also help level the playing field for responsible businesses and protect workers' rights.
Trucking companies that follow the rules should not be put at a disadvantage to those who do not. With the budget measures we are proposing, we would level the playing the field, strengthening tax compliance to ensure that everyone pays their fair share in supporting the programs and services Canadians depend on and ensure access to benefits for workers in a key sector of our economy.
In closing, before my wonderful life in politics, I was in an industry that relied heavily on shipping its products from coast to coast to coast and north to south. I know first-hand how critical it is to support our truckers and strengthen our trucking industry. I know how important it is to our economy. I know how important it is to our trade to have a healthy trucking industry. I am very proud we are coming forth with these measures in budget 2025 to take action to make sure that fair players are rewarded and bad actors are caught.
Thank you.