moved for leave to introduce Bill C-286, an act to provide for parliamentary scrutiny and approval of user fees set by federal authority and to require public disclosure of the amount collected as user fees.
Mr. Speaker, user fees are becoming an increasingly large part of government revenues, yet there is almost no accountability when it comes to how these fees are introduced in the first place and scrutiny of how they are increased.
This bill would seek to bring the user fees before the appropriate committees of the House of Commons for scrutiny and debate. We could hear witnesses who are affected by these user fees. Ultimately this would give some powers to the committees, something that is long overdue in the House. Ultimately it would ensure that the government does not continue to use these user fees. It is really taxation without representation.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)