Madam Speaker, the recommendation of the member for Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys is praiseworthy. It has been proposed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities each year since 1990, imagine. It has also been made in two reports of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development.
It was first proposed in the 1995 report “Keeping a Promise: Towards a Sustainable Budget”. We heard a number of witnesses on the question of transit passes which was one topic of discussion before the committee. Witnesses noted that levelling the playing field in the transportation sector by making transit passes a tax free benefit would encourage employees to use public transit. The result would be reduced energy consumption, decreased atmospheric pollution and reduced traffic congestion.
In 1997 the same committee produced the report “Kyoto and Beyond: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge”. One recommendation of the committee was to let Finance Canada conduct a comprehensive study of the fiscal and regulatory tools available to the federal government to encourage a shift to public transit, including the provision that employer provided transit passes be considered a tax free benefit. So far this recommendation seems to have been ignored.
In 1998 a request to the finance department to provide an accounting of the total value of benefits currently provided through employer provided parking was referred to the Department of National Revenue. However, Revenue Canada was unable to provide the data. In other words we are in the unfortunate position of not knowing how many people take advantage of tax free parking benefits.
Nevertheless both the Department of Finance and Revenue Canada argue that by offering the benefit to other commuters there is a negative impact on the tax base, as we heard earlier from the distinguished parliamentary secretary.
We do know that social, environmental and equity benefits would arise from implementing the transit pass tax exemption. We also know there is widespread support for the measure, as indicated already by other members. The Amalgamated Transit Union has organized a campaign. Support comes from sources so diverse as the city of Saskatoon, the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens, Pollution Probe, the Lung Association of Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, the city of Toronto, and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton.
This motion is well timed and deserves the support of this House and the Government of Canada, considering the commitment made in Kyoto by the Government of Canada. The parliamentary secretary's arguments are worth examining but the basic thrust of this motion reflects widespread support across the country. Therefore we must conclude it is time for Ottawa to act.