Mr. Speaker, in response to hon. members who are asking for the deletion of a number of clauses in Bill C-43, an act to establish the Canada customs and revenue agency, I will explain why such an agency is needed. The most important reason is the demand of Canadians for streamlined and more responsive tax, customs and trade administration services.
The agency is designed to improve services to Canadians, to businesses, and to provinces and territories. This will be accomplished in a number of ways. One way is expanding and improving the co-ordination and administration of federal and provincial revenue programs.
This will result in a number of benefits: a reduction of overlap and duplication among levels of government, a potential for significant reductions in costs to governments, a potential for significant reductions in costs to taxpayers in complying with tax laws, one level of tax collector that will create major advantages for businesses, and an improvement in the competitive position of Canadian businesses.
Another benefit of the legislation is that it will improve the management of the agency. The board of management will help to bring a client oriented focus to agency activities. The board will also help to bring a strategic perspective to management by using some private sector techniques to ensure efficient and effective management. The agency will be able to tailor its programs for administrative activities to meet its own needs. As a result of this improved efficiency, the agency will be able to reinvest productivity gains in programs for Canadians.
This improved management will also mean significant improvements for employees. Employee representatives will be able to bargain directly with the employer. This will result in more responsive and simplified staffing and classification systems. In addition, a new approach of recourse will focus on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as fact finding and mediation. This will also incorporate access to independent third party review.
Design teams comprised of employees, managers and unions have been involved in designing the new human resource regime for the new agency. The agency model proposed in the Canada customs and revenue agency is unique since it combines the strengths of both the public and private sectors while remaining fully accountable to parliament and the Canadian public.
In developing the Canada customs and revenue agency the department has been sensitive to the concern of the concentration of too much power in one place. Tax, customs and trade administration affect the lives and livelihoods of most Canadians. They want to be sure they are dealt with fairly and that their rights are protected.
In the design of the new agency the essential checks and balances that govern the activities and ensure the accountability of Revenue Canada have been maintained. For example, the enforcement powers of the new agency will be the same as those currently provided to Revenue Canada through legislation like the Income Tax Act or the Customs Act.
If there is a problem or a complaint, the minister will still be fully accountable to parliament and the public for the administration and enforcement of specific legislation. The minister will have the authority, as is currently the case, to answer questions in the House and to ensure the agency is acting properly in its dealings with the Canadian public. The existing provisions for accountability are being enhanced by the addition of three new accountability mechanisms.
The confidentiality of a taxpayer's personal information will be protected under the agency just as it is currently with Revenue Canada. The authorities governing confidentiality are clearly set out in the legislation and they will not be changed by the bill.
Bill C-43 will permit the agency to offer new and better services to the provinces and territories. For example, at the present time Revenue Canada can only collect provincial taxes that are harmonized with federal taxes. The new agency would be able to collect non-harmonized taxes, expanding the potential for single window tax collection with considerable savings for businesses and individual Canadians.
Greater co-ordination among the federal, provincial and territorial governments will simplify tax administration for Canadians and reduce costly overlap and duplication between governments. Increased operational flexibility in the management of internal resources is a major change that will allow the new agency to adopt a more client oriented approach.
The new legislation will allow the proposed agency to customize its own resources and administrative functions to meet the needs of Canadians as well as those of its employees. All of this means better service.
Doing something better is not an expansion of power but an extension of service, service to individual Canadians, service to businesses, and services to provinces and territories. Better service means savings in time and money, savings in compliance costs for businesses and savings in administration costs for government.
The intention of Bill C-43 is not to create an agency with unlimited powers but rather to establish a framework with all the checks and balances for a more efficient agency. The bill is important and beneficial, beneficial for the government, beneficial for business, and beneficial for individual Canadians. This is what is expected of good government.