Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize our colleague, the member for Etobicoke North, and his many achievements but particularly his achievement in raising the profile of the subject of external charging.
The government also shares his desire to improve the fee setting process. It is in that spirit that in August the President of the Treasury Board announced the revised external charging policy and this policy is now in effect. We believe that it addresses many of the concerns that have been raised by hon. colleague from Etobicoke North. The confidence seems to be there that a policy based approach is more effective.
With stakeholder consultation as its backbone, the policy strikes a balance between two sound management practices. While it strives for government-wide consistency, it still provides the flexibility for individual programs to meet the needs of the varied and diverse interests of the stakeholders.
The government consulted with stakeholders in industry associations and firms, which pay federal user charges, during its policy review and it heard from members of Parliament and in particular, members of the Standing Committee on Finance. These consultations were central to the development of the revised policy.
The review heard that there is broad support for the principles of equity and fairness that underpin the policy.
However the review also revealed that stakeholders shared a number of substantive concerns that needed to be addressed and, through policy, it is believed that they have been.
The result is a revised policy which focuses on accountability and transparency, as called for by the stakeholders and parliamentarians. The revised policy builds on this solid foundation to meet the concerns raised during the review as well as by my colleague's bill.
The revised policy strongly reinforces the link between fees and service performance. Now departments, through stakeholder consultations, must establish service standards and the action to be taken if these standards are not met. However the policy does make clear that service commitments must take account of the program's priorities, as set through legislation or regulation. Service delivery is in the broad public interest and the policy recognizes that standards must reflect the needs of all Canadians in a balanced fashion.