Mr. Speaker, it will be a pleasure for the Bloc Quebecois to support the bill tabled by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. We think it is extremely important for this bill, whose purpose is to amend the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, the Income Tax Act and the Tax Court of Canada Act, to be passed as soon as possible.
The only point I would like to make as opposition critic is-and speaking of bureaucracy, I think this is a good example-that back in 1991, it seems that after the legislation was adopted, they realized, at least that is what I was told, that through an unfortunate oversight they forgot to include the right to appeal. It seems to me that at the time, the government should have turned around and said: "Listen, we forgot something. We will immediately amend the legislation we just adopted to correct this oversight".
Fortunately, four years later-and I hope we will have time to finish the process-it will be possible to adopt the legislation and correct this oversight, to ensure that Canadian cultural property remains in Canada. There is a weak spot in this legislation, an omission, and we would have liked to see stricter controls on the export of cultural property.
I once saw a television program that provided clear evidence that many items of Canadian cultural property are readily passed across the border between Canada and the United States. It seems that controls are so lax this is not a problem.
I think it is important to remember that the right of appeal is a fundamental right. If someone makes a decision, he must have the right to appeal, the right to be heard if he is not satisfied with that decision.
That is exactly what is happening here. You donate something, its fair market value is assessed, you are not satisfied, and you appeal to the board which can then decide to make certain changes.
If you are still not satisfied with the board's decision, you have a second chance to appeal, this time to the Tax Court of Canada.
I think it was an excellent decision in 1991 to take the responsibility for this decision away from Revenue Canada, since the board has the real expertise. The people there are knowledgeable about the value of cultural property. They are experts, so it is much easier for them to determine the value.
I think the minister's speech was very clear. The Bloc is prepared to support this legislation, which is very technical and is based on a natural right. This is a bill the Bloc can go along with because its purpose is to correct an oversight, the kind of technical legislation we have become accustomed to getting from the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In fact, I would like to see the minister introduce fundamental legislation on Canadian policy, and we are really waiting for the new copyright act. I am launching one more appeal in this House.
However, it is not my intention to take up too much of the time of this House, for whatever reason, and I think that the minister gave a very clear explanation of a technical bill. I mentioned omissions that are of some concern to the Bloc Quebecois, but he has our support, and that will be it for now.