Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to debate Bill C-93, particularly because over the course of the last few days as we have been discussing the bill I have been interested in the misinformation and in some ways nonsense that have been lobbed at this side of the House, especially by members of the third party.
I should like to clarify certain aspects of the bill to ensure the people of Canada understand and fully appreciate its importance to them and to us as a country. As I was listening to the debate, particularly the day before yesterday, there were indications from members that the bill would cost the government $60 million. That is wrong.
As a result of the bill and the notion that Canadians can donate artefacts of importance to our cultural heritage to museums, libraries and art institutions, we have had 1,100 donors give to our country the value of $60 million. The cost to our country, from a tax incentive point of view, has been just about half of that, $25 million to $30 million. In fact, what we have are priceless donations of our country's history, culture, and art from other nations which is remaining in Canada for all of us to enjoy, value and appreciate. We have received $60 million dollars worth of priceless art and goods for the value of $25 million.
That makes good sense to me, yet the members of the third party are misconstruing the information and having it printed in Hansard that it is costing us $60 million because they have not taken the time to understand the bill. In fact, I understand that they refused briefings from the parliamentary secretary and bureaucrats from the ministry. As a result we get misinformation in the House and that is not acceptable. It is good to have this opportunity to clarify that particular point.
There were challenges from the third party saying: "Did you know that this does not only apply to Canadian artefacts and art,
but to art from around the world? Is that not terrible?" I do not think it is terrible at all. Are we to assume that Canadians are not interested in works of art done by people from other parts of the world? We are a melting pot. We are a multicultural society. We can all learn from and appreciate art from other cultures. Those are the kinds of donations which are accepted under the bill. They are of value to us. I want to clarify that for the House. It makes sense and I appreciate it as a Canadian.
The particular argument that the third party makes of the bill is that it only benefits rich people, in fact it is the Canadian government again servicing the rich, giving them an opportunity to receive a tax incentive for making a donation to a museum, an art gallery or a library.