Mr. Speaker, I will try to give you some constructive suggestions.
The issue around Bill S-13 seems to be revolving around the definition of the word levy. I point out in the legislation that under definitions it says “Levy means the levy”. The legislation defines levy by the same word. It is a levy for industry purposes.
Mr. Speaker, there have been arguments that you should pay careful attention to what judges say, to what the supreme court says on issues like this, and to what the courts in general say. I will ask you to speak as the president of the highest court in the land. I look to you to make a decision that is above the courts because this place is above the courts.
Having said that, I do not think we need to go to the courts to define what the word levy means. All we have to do is go to the table in front of you and examine the Concise Oxford Dictionary , which is the Table dictionary. If we look up the word levy we will find that the definition is “the collecting of a contribution, tax, et cetera”.
Mr. Speaker, were you to go to the parliamentary library and look up the Oxford English Dictionary , volume 8, you would find this definition of levy: “the action of collecting an assessment, duty, tax, et cetera”. Collins English Dictionary defines levy as: a) the art of imposing and collecting a tax, tariff, et cetera; b) the money so raised”. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines it this way: “to impose or collect a tax”. Finally, if we look at Larousse , we will find that “prélèvement” is translated as “impôt”.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question about what the English and the French language mean by the word levy, and it is a tax. However, you have heard arguments that there have been interpretations of the word levy made by the courts as having something to do with raising money by regulation.
The member for New Brunswick Southwest drew your attention to the Ontario probate fees. He said that if you want an example of a levy you could look at the Ontario probate fees, and he cited court documents. Recently that has been the source of a court challenge and those fees have been declared a tax. As I understand it, the Ontario government is now on the hook for about a billion dollars on this levy.
I would ask you, Mr. Speaker, to consider very carefully what we really do mean by a levy. Again the dictionary before you on the table defines tax. We have seen in that dictionary that a levy is a tax and now we will look at the definition of a tax. It reads:
—a contribution to government revenue compulsorily levied on individuals, property, or businesses.
One of the arguments we have been hearing is that because this compulsory tax goes to a foundation it is not really a tax at all. I submit that because a foundation is a creature of this parliament, a creature of this government, it is indeed a recipient of a tax. We do not evade the question of whether a tax is a tax simply because it goes to an arm's length agency that has been created by the government.
The key word is the fact that money is being raised from people compulsorily. I point out that normally in our legislation we do not make a distinction between individuals who are persons like myself, single people, and corporations. They are often viewed in legislation as individuals and they are regarded as such.
I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to another definition in the legislation:
“sponsor of the Foundation” means a person who pays a levy.
If we transpose the word levy for tax, that definition actually is that sponsor of the foundation means a person who pays a tax. In other words, this is all about taxing somebody.