House of Commons Hansard #153 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was measures.

Topics

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

5:45 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate a number of the members who took the time to review some of the provisions of Bill C-40 as they relate to their regions or matters which are of particular interest to them or their constituents.

In the question I asked of the previous speaker, I was not being facetious. I looked at the bill and took the opportunity to review its various provisions. Being the co-chair of the scrutiny of regulations committee, it made me wonder why so many of these provisions which appear to be clarifying or directed at operational efficiency are not necessarily changing the legislation with respect to the exigency of a tax.

One member described this as an omnibus bill. That is exactly what it is. It touches a number of acts. It does not read as a story from beginning to end where everything builds on everything else. In fact, one has to have in hand the related legislation and the specific sections to which those changes may relate and then they must be looked at in context. I suspect that if we were to take all of the related documents that tie into this to help us understand what it really meant, it would probably take days and days simply to peruse everything.

Having said that, it certainly makes a good case for those who craft the legislation to consider the use of regulations more fully in terms of providing the tools to those responsible for accountability of the legislation to be able to make the kinds of changes where fairness or operational efficiency, et cetera, may be the object. Any regulations appended to a piece of legislation must be authorized by the legislation itself. We cannot make law through regulations, but we can certainly provide the detail.

As a chartered accountant I have spent many years playing around with provisions within the income tax system. That document is very unwieldy and cumbersome, but in some respects it takes into account some of the other tools that are available to modify legislation or at least the application of legislation by the use of regulations. There is a variety of other documents, whether they be interpretation bulletins or information circulars, which also help Canadians.

I wanted to raise that point simply because it happens a lot in this place. It is very difficult for members of the finance committee who have the opportunity after second reading to have witnesses from the department come forward to provide explanations. Everyone is not a tax expert. What is needed is the lay language, what we lay out for other parliamentarians.

The way this place operates, very often parliamentarians have seconded the responsibility to do the due diligence on legislation to their colleagues at committee. They accept that the work has been done in a proper fashion and that the key elements of concern have been raised with officials and other witnesses, who may be stakeholders and have come before the committee to deal with it. It makes it very awkward to ask what the relevance is of the third reading debate if we cannot really get into some of the detail.

There is a lot of detail here. I am not sure whether or not there will be many answers forthcoming from the House. It would be a very interesting process to try to explain some of these measures. For instance, there is a page and a half which deals with the definition of what a returnable container is and a returnable container charge. The amendment in one aspect takes about a half a page to insert the words “the returnable container in a province”. That is the change. I am not sure whether or not there is anything more to that, other than there has to have been a dispute at some point in time where someone challenged the legislation on a clarity issue and this was simply a matter of trying to resolve that and put that issue to bed.

A number of members talked very well with regard to the changes as they affect charitable groups and organizations. I certainly concur with the direction of the changes that have taken place, particularly since most members of Parliament have been extensively involved with charitable groups. Those groups have had very good representation on the Hill. A number of the points they have raised, whether it be directly with members or through related committees, have been very helpful.

Scanning down the list of issues, some who may be watching will probably wonder why we are talking about the GST and HST. That came up in the 35th Parliament when there was legislation to provide for the replacement of the GST with a revenue equivalent, which was taken up by certain provinces. The HST, which stands for harmonized sales tax, rather than goods and services tax, combines both the federal and the provincial taxes into a one line item.

In this bill the principal measures that were taken with regard to the goods and services tax, or where applicable the harmonized sales tax in certain provinces, have to do with a couple of key areas, certainly in the area of health. With regard to health, Bill C-40 confirms the GST-HST exemption for speech language pathology services. It also exempts health related services rendered in the practise of professional social work, zero rates sales and the importation of a blood substitute known as plasma expander. It restores the zero rated status of a group of drugs collectively known as benzodiazepines. It broadens the specially equipped vehicle GST- HST rebate so that the rebate applies to motor vehicles that have been used subsequent to being specially equipped for use by individuals with disabilities.

I looked at those specifically. I cannot say that I have looked at much more in the bill simply because there was not sufficient time to do it properly. The one area where I thought the bill opened up some interesting horizons has to do with the exempt status of health related services rendered in the practise of the profession of social work.

If we look at the related legislation and look at the practise of social work, I have a feeling that the discussion of this and maybe the change that has been made here may open up a broader range of requests for the same exempt status with regard to social work as defined. I am not sure that is a bad thing either, but it does point out that the tax system is never static.

When certain changes are made, others in the same or similar activity want to examine the rationalization for a change in the Excise Tax Act or the Income Tax Act. They want to more fully understand whether or not we are talking about providing benefits to certain groups that may have a stronger lobby or that may have come up with certain other challenges or interpretations to the application of existing rules, to changes in regulations or to changes in the laws in other jurisdictions. We often want to look at those to ensure we are keeping up with the trends with an international filter on what we do.

I thought that was interesting and I certainly support it conceptually. I do not know what might come up, but every time we touch something, others see a relation to their work somehow.

On Friday I had an opportunity to work in my constituency office. I had a visit from a gentleman who has a business which provides home care for seniors. It is an expansive home care service, and includes such things as bathing, medication, shopping, almost whatever service the senior might need. The gentleman asked whether there was any way he could get some breaks. It is an important job and he has to pay people, which is his biggest expense. He would like some sort of subsidy or assistance because, like most social work, it is generally some of the lowest paid work on a per hour basis of most professions. There are a lot of people who are paid very, very poorly in the provision of social related work.

I am not sure how we get from here to there, but this is part of that whole argument about the prosperity gap, about the difference between the rich and the poor. That gap is widening. There are only certain amounts of money. For people who require social assistance, as related to the social work definition, there is only so much that can be afforded and only so much that can be taken out of the customer to provide the services. I flag that issue. This may open up some interesting horizons for a number of businesses that qualify under the current definition of the profession of social work.

There is the discussion also related to charities. As I said, I certainly agree with the exemption of supplies by charities of real property under short term leases and licences.

There is a section on business arrangements. I do not think I can add any more to the debate on that.

There was some discussion about tobacco and alcohol. I thought it was interesting. This morning my private member's bill related to alcohol warning labels was before the House. I looked very carefully at the provisions in Bill C-40 to see if there was a tie-in. I suppose the only tie-in is that they both relate to alcohol, but not with regard to the tax.

In any event, with regard to tobacco, this bill extends the requirement to identify the origin of tobacco products to all products, including those for sale at duty free shops or for export, consistent with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is an international treaty on tobacco control. It also clarifies that cigarettes, tobacco sticks, fine cut tobacco and cigars, but not packaged raw leaf tobacco, may be supplied to the export market or the domestic duty free market. These changes were made, I am sure, from the interventions of the duty free industry and certainly those who are involved in the export market. We have had a number of discussions over the years about how we operate vis-à-vis other countries with which we have trade relations.

With regard to alcohol, the bill authorizes private laboratories, provincial liquor boards and vintners to possess a still or similar equipment to produce spirits for the purpose of analyzing substances containing ethyl alcohol, which is beverage alcohol. Ethanol is another word that is used to describe it. It is a poison, but I will not go there because that is a whole other area of interest, certainly with regard to me, but in any event, with regard to analyzing substances containing ethyl alcohol, it authorizes laboratories, boards and vintners to possess a still or similar equipment without holding a spirits licence.

That is interesting because it seems to me that in our legislation having a licence to do something, to possess things and so on, is a precursor to doing certain activities. In this particular case, I am sure that probably a number of petitioners made argument before the tax authorities that in the case of private laboratories or provincial liquor boards and vintners, where the analyzing of substances takes place, the need for a licence was not necessary. I suspect that we are talking about some other regulatory implications, but in this particular case I suspect that the licensing process may be a problem for some of them.

The other area I simply want to comment on is the GST rebate program for tourists. As we know, this has been a very contentious issue for a number of members of Parliament, particularly with regard to those members who are in border areas.

Tourism is an extraordinarily important part of the Canadian economy. I had the opportunity to chair the outdoor caucus of our caucus in the last Parliament and I got to know quite a bit about the tourism industry. Particularly after SARS, which was I think what spawned that caucus, that group of parliamentarians interested in the tourism impacts, it was amazing to find out how sensitive the industry was to disruptions that in fact really did not affect tourist areas but were more in the urban centres. Yet we found that in a broad range of goods and services, whether it was lodging, rental of boats or fishing equipment or other purchases of equipment, all of those things took a dramatic decline.

There is another aspect. I think those members who are from the Maritimes, and in particular P.E.I., will tell you that tourism is down very substantially now. They believe, whether because of SARS or because of the GST rebate program for tourists, that those who had come here in the past suddenly found that this was enough to make them look for substitutes. They started to look for other options. In fact, many found that the substitutes, which were a better economic deal for them, had the same or similar benefits or enjoyment they had when coming to Canada.

Therefore, I am very pleased to see that this also has been resolved. I think it is important that Canada's tourist industry continue to be well supported. It is unfortunate that some damage has been done. In an economic downturn, and in particular where the dollar has been quite strong, we have to be vigilant about the unintended consequences of certain moves.

I think it behooves all of us to continue to urge those responsible for the accountability of our financial policy to think it through very carefully and to do the consultations that are necessary to ensure that our tax system remains not only operational but fair.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:05 p.m.

Conservative

Gord Brown Conservative Leeds—Grenville, ON

Mr. Speaker, the member for Mississauga South talked about the tourism industry. The tourism industry is the industry I happen to have grown up in. Over the years I have seen government actions in a positive way and even in a negative way.

The member talked about the GST visitor rebate program. Now, of course, the government has introduced the tour operator and convention incentive program. There were many representations made to the government.

I have had a lot of experience with that GST visitor rebate program. The member talked about accountability. The new program, from my knowledge and understanding, is far more accountable. No American tour groups or conventions have had to pay GST that did not have to pay it before. In fact, no group has had to pay GST that did not have to do so before.

In light of the fact that the new program is much more accountable, is it something the member would be happy to support?

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:05 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the member is quite right. There was a significant threat to the convention industry and the member's riding would certainly have been affected by it.

As legislators, we go through this process: we do our due diligence, we determine where the problems are, and we correct them. Whenever we make changes, it is to help us, as we say in our prayer each and every day in this House, “make good laws and wise decisions”. In this regard, I believe it is good legislation and a wise decision.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:10 p.m.

Bloc

Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my friend a question to return the favour he did for me. I missed part of his speech.

Nevertheless, earlier he asked me whether it was possible to broaden the concept of social worker. I went so far as to say that I felt the same thing could apply to a psychologist. I think my friend was afraid we would take the concept of social worker too far. The bill refers to social workers, though.

Would he be in favour of broadening the concept of social work services to include other professions such as psychology or similar professions?

I would like his opinion on this. I am simply returning the favour he did for me earlier, when he asked me about my own speech. I would like his opinion on broadening the concept of social work to include other types of jobs.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would hesitate to give a definitive answer without having considered it carefully. However, I listened carefully to the member's comments earlier. He spoke about specific cases. He spoke about speech pathologists. He spoke about psychologists. We know that in this complicated, fast-paced world we live in, children often are the victims here.

As a value or as a principle of approach to considering it, I would say that children are important to Canada's future and that investing in their health and well-being is something that is certainly worth considering very seriously.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT

Mr. Speaker, the last Liberal and Conservative speakers both have alluded to the damage done to the tourism industry by the cuts last year. Surplus money that was taken from the Canadian Tourism Commission could have been used for marketing the museum assistance program, MAP. Museums are very important in tourism.

Both members talked about the GST rebate, which has been partially reinstated. I do not want the members to be under the illusion that this is fixed. The tour operators and the convention people will get the rebate, which is great, but individual tourists are very important to my riding and they will not.

On Friday night in my speech at the Association of Yukon Communities, I assured the people that we would work to reinstate that rebate. Individual tourists who drive from the United States into Canada, for instance, and we have a lot of them, do not get the rebate any more. I am asking if the member would commit to help me fight to get this reinstated to help our tourism industry.

Finally, I have a constituent named Tony Fekete, who often comes to see me at the airport and suggests that in Canada we should not be ruling by regulation. Canada is unlike Europe, where governments are not allowed to do that. He thinks we rule by regulation far too much and government is not accountable. I wonder if the member would like to comment on that for my constituent.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member raised the issue of the rebate as it applies to individuals. He is quite right. It has not come back to what it was in the past, which is unfortunate.

Many communities around the country may not have the facilities for tour operators or to host conventions. However, when people go to the local lodges or the small motels and services for the wilderness, the outdoors and the non-urban or even semi-urban, these are the areas where the vitality of that local economy depends on those people.

We often do not appreciate the sensitivity of a few dollars here or there. Even the symbolism of a tax to be paid, which people cannot get back when they go back home, knowing that others can get it, is not helpful.

The answer to the member's first question is that it is very much something that should be reinstated. I know the people in our border communities would like to see that as well.

Finally, with regard to the regulation side, things cannot be done by regulation that are not authorized by the legislation itself. A tax cannot be created in a regulation. The tax must be authorized within the legislation itself.

My comment earlier about looking toward regulations is that when there is some fine-tuning, which clearly is not changing the enabling provision of the legislation but rather clarifying the items or the language so that it clarifies the concerns that taxpayers may have raised in certain other cases, that to do it by regulations certainly is a more efficient way to do it simply because it does not need to come before the House of Commons. It can be done by order in council, basically by cabinet on the recommendation of the related minister.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:15 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to return to part 2 of the bill to amend the Excise Act, 2001.

Part of this bill pertains to alcohol, among other things. I am thinking especially about the measures to promote the growth of the wine industry in Canada. Does the member think that the deferral of the payment of duty for small producers selling small volumes gives them a considerable advantage?

In fact, small producers will have to pay this duty after the bottles and the products have been sold. By the way, there are 42 vineyards in Quebec. Does he think that this type of measures will give an advantage to the wine industry in Canada?

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, that particular provision basically defers the payment of duty by small vintners selling wine on consignment in retail stores operated by an association of vintners until the wine is sold.

Effectively, if I understand it correctly, we are talking about the deferral of a payment which, for a small business, is very important because it helps cash flow. It matches cash inflows and cash outflows so that inventory is not being financed even though it is on a consignment basis.

I would say to the member that I do understand the benefit to small businesses, such as vintners, but if we were to take this to its logical conclusion, where all these little ways in which we can help businesses were all put into our legislation and have specific clauses with specifics for this one and that one, our legislation would explode. That is exactly what has happened to the Income Tax Act. It has so many exceptions, exemptions, et cetera that it has made it very complicated. As a matter of fact, for many it is too complicated to safely handle their own tax matters.

I guess that makes the accountants and the lawyers very well off. I suspect, if anything, they may save on the duty but it might be offset by the need to have an accountant to explain it all. In principle, I like it but with regard to the details, I think we must be extremely careful about the micro-administration of businesses through tax and excise tax acts.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:15 p.m.

Bloc

Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to present today the results of my consideration and analysis of Bill C-40, which I have studied closely.

This bill is divided into three parts. The first part aims to institute corrective steps to improve and specify certain measures having to do with the collection of the GST. The second part amends the act in order to zero-rate particular products and services. It then turns to the excise tax, laying out certain measures related to the taxation of wine, beer and spirits. The third part amends the rules on the air travellers security charge collected at various airports.

Let us take a closer look at each of these three parts. First of all, the measures concerning the GST and the HST, which applies in some provinces, are divided into five distinct categories. Also—and I find this quite interesting—this bill modifies rules that apply to health services, charities, business arrangements, governments and the process by which the GST is administered.

With respect to health, this bill amends the act to confirm—and this is very important to me—the exemption for speech-language pathology services. This important amendment confirms the tax-exempt status of these services and makes it easier for young people struggling with language difficulties to access them. As I said, this is a personal issue for me. I spent many years working in health care, specifically, in child psychiatry. I know that this measure will be very beneficial to children struggling with this difficulty and to their parents, because they are the ones who pay for therapy. Parents of children with such difficulties really appreciate this kind of tax relief. They need support, both financial and moral.

I am sure that this tax exemption will relieve parents who have to seek this kind of care of an enormous burden. During my years in child psychiatry, I saw countless parents struggle helplessly with the cost of these services. People were torn. Sometimes, they said they did not have enough money to ensure proper treatment for their children. I think that this bill will really lend a hand. This is an important part of this bill. It will give hope to these parents who need a lot of support as they try to provide their children with the services they need to develop normally. Now they will have the resources to ensure their children's optimal development. In addition to helping children, this measure will also help seniors access these services.

With the rising incidence of heart disease and stroke, many older people need speech-language pathology services. Often, older people have limited financial resources.

I think this measure will help children struggling with language difficulties, their parents, and various seniors who have unfortunately had accidents and need these services.

The bill also exempts health-related services rendered in the practise of the profession of social work. Earlier I heard one of my colleagues ask whether we should extend this to other professions, in particular psychologists, and potentially remedial teachers. It should really be considered, because these kinds of services most often target people with severe difficulties, and the government could provide additional assistance to these people.

Such measures are important because, among other things, they facilitate access to private social work services. So the people who really need it have quick access to these services without constantly wondering if they can really afford them. This measure in the new bill is very important.

We know that when the legislation takes effect, the government will be able remove taxes from sales and imports of a product that can, in some instances, replace blood, a very important alternative for saving the live of a seriously injured patient.

This bill will also restore the zero-rated status of a group of drugs, with very scientific names, known as benzodiazepines. This is extremely important because they are medicinal derivatives used by individuals suffering from anxiety. We are talking about such drugs as Valium, Ativan and others that relieve the anxiety of those suffering from more or less serious mental illnesses. They are also used to help with drug or alcohol withdrawal. This measure will once again relieve the financial burden for those individuals who require these types of medications. Quite often, the individuals who need these services or medications find themselves in more difficult circumstances. Therefore, we must support any measure that can help reduce expenses for these individuals and that also seeks to improve access to better and more significant health care. That is what we are going to do.

Finally, still in the health care sector, the bill will provide for the reimbursement of the GST for those who use specially equipped motor vehicles. I am thinking mainly of those with severe physical handicaps. When these individuals resell or have to adapt their vehicles, they need the government's help, once again, to make it easier to access services and, at the same time, improve their quality of life. Their everyday life changes considerably when governments provide more readily accessible financial assistance.

Charities will be affected by different measures in this bill. One amendment exempting supplies by charities of real property under short-term leases and licences will be extended to any goods supplied with such property. Hence, the range of services provided by charities is expanded without the rate of taxation necessarily being too high.

This measure represents savings for such organizations, which can improve their service to a clientele that, once again, often consists of the most disadvantaged in our society. This gives them some room to manoeuvre, which is quite often required to maintain their activities. They need government support and that is provided by this bill.

As far as business arrangements are concerned, the bill amends the GST Act. It provides transitional relief on the initial asset transfer by a foreign bank that restructures its Canadian subsidiary into a Canadian branch. This measure will act as an incentive to foreign banks in Canada to restructure their subsidiaries as Canadian branches, which will promote more competition in the Canadian banking sector.

The bill also removes technical impediments that hinder the use of existing group relief provisions under the GST/HST. This amendment simply clarifies the rules for the application of legislation already in effect.

In addition, the bill simplifies compliance by excluding beverage container deposits that are refundable to the consumer from the GST/HST base. This will make it easier for businesses to manage collection and will lighten the regulatory burden associated with deposits, with a view to promoting more recycling and environmental protection. The importance of it all becomes more obvious to me in the light of all the debates that are held on the various measures dealing with the protection of the environment here in the House and elsewhere. I think we should support any measure that can help save the planet. This might not be an impressive measure, but it is by making small adjustments that we will succeed and achieve results.

The fourth category applies to the government. If the bill is passed, it will exempt a supply of a right to file or retrieve a document or information stored in an electronic official registry. This provision will allow municipalities and other government agencies to provide information to individuals at a lesser cost than before. With such a measure, the individual comes out a winner since access to information will be easier.

The bill also ensures that a small supplier division of a municipality is treated in the same manner as a municipality that is a small supplier. Thus, fair treatment will be respected.

Finally, it is important to note that this is a significant change that must be taken into account in the application of the legislation. The bill adds a discretionary power—which is interesting— for the Minister of National Revenue to accept late-filed applications for the GST New Housing Rebate and the Nova Scotia HST New Housing Rebate for owner-built homes, where exceptional circumstances have prevented the applicant from meeting the normal filing deadline.

These are measures that support the ordinary citizen, who is often overwhelmed by all the paperwork involved in applying for an exemption or a rebate. Sometimes people are denied their right because they did not manage to fill out the entire form on time. In that situation, we are helping them in a very tangible way.

The bill adds a discretionary power for the Minister of National Revenue to accept late-filed elections between closely related financial institutions for adjustments that they are required to make for the provincial component of the GST and the provincial sales tax.

As far as exchanging information is concerned, it permits the Minister of National Revenue to exchange GST and QST information in Quebec with foreign governments that are signatories to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The government will thereby be in a better position to deal with tax evasion. How much money is lost through the entire tax evasion scheme? How many people do not pay taxes when they should? If, through measures that will allow for a better exchange of information, we can limit tax evasion, that is a major bonus for the government.

Finally, the bill gives the Chief Statistician of Canada the discretionary power to provide statistical information concerning business activities to the provinces, similar to an existing provision in the Income Tax Act. This new power will give the provinces better access to income statistics, which will allow them to better focus their public policies.

I would now like to discuss some of the measures that propose an amendment to the excise tax. These measures deal with tobacco and seek to give greater precision to certain provisions contained in the Excise Tax Act in order to better defend against the smuggling of tobacco products and facilitate collection of taxes on tobacco. The bill includes measures to extend the requirement to identify the origin of tobacco products to all products, including those sold at duty-free shops or for export.

It clarifies that cigarettes, tobacco sticks, fine-cut tobacco or cigars, but not packaged raw leaf tobacco, may be supplied to the export market or the domestic duty-free market.

As for alcohol, the bill has two main objectives. First, it allows provincial liquor boards and vintners to possess an equipment similar to a still for the purpose of analyzing substances containing ethyl alcohol without having to hold a spirits licence. I believe that, for the security of citizens, vintners must be better able to ensure the safety of their operations and products.

This measure will help liquor boards, especially in Quebec, and vintners reduce the huge paper burden as well as major costs for these licences. Moreover, to promote the growth of the wine industry, the government, by passing this bill, will allow for the deferring of the payment of duty by small vintners selling wine on consignment in retail stores operated by an association of vintners.

There are also measures to help vintners. My colleague talked about Quebec wine producers earlier. In 2006, there were 42 vineyards in many regions of Quebec, including Lanaudière, the Eastern Townships, Montérégie and the Lower Laurentians. Every year, over 100 hectares of vines are cultivated in Quebec, and the sector has experienced steady growth over the past few years. This measure will help wine producers and will diversify and increase wine production in Quebec. The main products are excellent: white wine, ice wine and fortified wine. This measure will promote the development of this industry, improve marketing of products made in Quebec and support the province's agro-tourism opportunities, which are becoming more and more popular. I am thinking of Quebec's Wine Route and its network of small producers who will appreciate this support for the development of their industry.

The third and final part of the bill includes previously announced relief provisions with respect to the air travellers security charge. It also addresses the Air Travellers Security Charge Act. Basically, the bill relieves, in particular circumstances, the air travellers security charge in respect of air travel sold by resellers or donated by air carriers.

The bill provides authority for the Governor in Council to add, delete or vary by regulation the schedule of listed airports. For example, the bill will immediately change the status of three Quebec airports to ensure that standards are appropriate for the market and market demands.

The bill removes La Grande-3 and La Grande-4 from the list of airports subject to the surcharge under the Air Travellers Security Charge Act. This measure reflects the special nature of these airports where security is not as big an issue as it is in larger airports that have different goals. This corrects a situation that these airports found challenging.

However, the amazing increase in air traffic at the Mont-Tremblant airport, which is somewhat the opposite, has meant that the minister has decided to include it in the list of airports now subject to the air travellers security charge. This is a good thing because there is a lot of international traffic at this airport.

Consequently, it is clear that all these measures, changes and improvements mean that Bill C-40 is evidently in the best interest of Quebeckers. We are convinced that the people as a whole will support us. The Bloc Quebecois will then vote in favour of this bill.

I would like to end by saying that Bill C-40 is designed to correct the technical shortcomings I mentioned earlier pertaining to the GST and the excise tax. The tax would be removed from certain medical services so as to facilitate access to them and lighten the tax burden for charitable organizations. The bill contains measures that will benefit small wine producers. It tightens the rules governing the production and sale of tobacco products in order to fight smuggling and it adapts the air travellers security charge to the present situation in Quebec.

The Bloc Quebecois is in favour of this bill and will support it.

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:40 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his remarks on Bill C-40.

My question and comment will focus on the health-related measures in the bill we are debating today, and the collection of the GST on health services. As my colleague said many times, he has a background and has worked in child psychiatry. He is in a good position to confirm that services currently provided are costly and put a heavy burden on families. In connection with this bill, he gave the example of speech-language pathology services, which will now be zero rated. These services provided to children with language difficulties and disorders will now be zero rated.

He also mentioned the exemption for social work, that is social workers who provide services. Again, under this bill, these services will be exempt, and therefore zero rated.

My question is the following. Based on his experience as a child psychiatrist in a former life, can the member think of other services that should be zero rated? Should other services be exempt from tax to ensure that families with children struggling with language or other difficulties can breathe a little? The fact is that these families are often faced with hefty bills. Based on his former line of work, are there other services that he would like to see included under this zero-rating measure? I can think of psychology services perhaps, but could he give us more examples?

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:40 p.m.

Bloc

Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, which will allow me to clarify.

I worked for 32 years in child psychiatry in the public sector. It is very difficult for public services to provide everything people need. Absurd situations are more and more commonplace. There is so much poverty in some areas that child psychiatrists find that many young people will present with psychological disorders connected with the level of poverty and social development in their environment. Many children suffer from problems related to the psychology and overall development of their personality.

These problems can be solved using speech-language pathology, psychoeducation, psychology and psychomotility services. But public services have difficulty responding fast enough to solve problems expeditiously. Sometimes young people are put on waiting lists for such problems. When a young person is on a waiting list, his or her parents will be tempted to turn to the private sector for services.

This is where the bill can really make a difference. It will remove the tax from services that some parents will want to provide for their children to help them in their development. When parents provide these services for their children and then have to pay tax on them, it is very discouraging for these people, who need support and encouragement. It is very hard when, on top of everything else, the government has a hand in their pockets.

So in response to my colleague's question, yes, we have to consider that other professions or other—

Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006Government Orders

6:40 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

Order, please. The time allocated for debate has expired. We now proceed to the adjournment proceedings.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

6:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bryon Wilfert Liberal Richmond Hill, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise tonight on an area of foreign policy which I think is very important to many Canadians, and that is the situation on the African continent.

A few years ago, the prime minister of the day had pushed at the United Nations for something which countries like Russia, China, Pakistan, et cetera, agreed to, and that is the responsibility to protect. There is a collective responsibility among all nations to deal with issues such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

There are just two examples I wanted to look at tonight. The other month we had the president of Liberia here and we saw the rather stumbling approach of the government with regard to her presence, but the issue that I want to talk about first of all is in Zimbabwe.

The Liberal Party has called, both on March 13 and on April 24, for action by the government to deal with the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe and the fact that Mugabe has deployed his security forces, his green bomber militia, to basically turn a country which used to be an exporter of food into an importer. By the end of this year, inflation will reach as high as 4,000%.

People are fleeing Zimbabwe, risking their lives every day because of this regime which has brutalized people on the streets and in their homes, has packed the courts, has changed the nature of government, and has essentially allowed few foreigners to document what is happening. We only hear from those who have been able to leave.

We called upon the Government of Canada to increase aid from $4 million to $20 million for medicines, food and other essential supplies, to working with NGOs, to appoint a Canadian envoy to deal with this crisis, and to pressure the Security Council into bringing Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, before an International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Yet, we have heard nothing but silence from the government benches.

The Sudan in Darfur is another example where again Canada had shown leadership in the past. A former Liberal prime minister had been to the Sudan in 2004, advocated and supported the role of the African Union, along with the logistical support of Canadians helping members of the African Union on the ground. There is a genocide going on, and again we hear little from the government benches.

If the central tenet of Canadian foreign policy is to be human rights, if it is to be the security of the individual, then we need to act. Africa is not simply something that we can read about or watch in the news. It is something that Canadians have a deep understanding of and concern for. We need to see action at a multilateral level. Whether it be through the United Nations or in concert with our allies, we need to take action.

We have put forth, through the previous government and obviously now, proposals to the government. We would like to work with the government to ensure that if in fact we are going to act, we need to act in concert with our allies.

I would point out that on the international policy statement, which the previous government had enunciated in 2005, I have yet to hear from this government whether it supports it or rejects it. It has been very quiet on it, but part of that policy statement was the issue of intervention to provide support in these cases.

6:45 p.m.

Calgary East Alberta

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for raising the very important issue of what is happening in Africa. He very rightly pointed out the countries where we have a very serious and grave concern about what is going on.

As a matter of fact, talking about Zimbabwe, on many occasions the Minister of Foreign Affairs and I have condemned what is going on in Zimbabwe. We have met with the opposition leaders who have come here and we have used our diplomatic channels to put pressure on the government of Zimbabwe to respect human rights.

However, we know that is not happening. The best course of action is to pressure the African Union to bring some kind of resolution to the issue in Zimbabwe. There is no question that what the hon. member has said is happening in Zimbabwe is happening in Zimbabwe. It needs to be addressed.

We have put pressure on South Africa. I understand it is using what is called quiet diplomacy. At the end of the day, Africa is a continent and we need to get the leaders in Africa to put pressure on Zimbabwe. I am very happy to tell the hon. member that the president of Zambia has finally said that what is happening in Zimbabwe is not acceptable and now is putting on pressure.

I agree with the member. Our diplomats will work in the international arena to ensure that our point of view is made very clear to Zimbabwe. We will ask the African Union to help us bring a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.

In reference to the point the member raised about Sudan, I want to tell the hon. member that the previous Liberal government had made a commitment to Sudan and we are continuing with that. We are spending $8 million a month in Sudan to ensure that the African Union and the UN forces get the necessary tools to bring the warring parties to peace. As the member rightly pointed out, many people say that genocide is happening in Darfur.

As a matter of fact two weeks ago I was in Egypt and I had a lengthy talk with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about his impressions of what is happening in Sudan. He thought there was some hope and that there would be some movement in getting a UN hybrid force in Darfur. We are working through the security council. I had an opportunity to talk to the Chinese foreign minister to see if his government would put pressure on the government of Sudan. I am happy to report to the member that the Chinese have appointed a special envoy for Darfur.

Yes, these are areas on which I share concern with the member. Canada is working in those areas. Canada is at the forefront. Canadians are doing diplomacy behind the scenes, but we are getting our point across.

6:50 p.m.

Liberal

Bryon Wilfert Liberal Richmond Hill, ON

Mr. Speaker, one of the forums in which Canada can play a very important role is the Commonwealth. Historically on the Zimbabwe issue, the previous government had worked with Nigeria and South Africa in dealing with the Zimbabwe situation.

There is no question that the situation has become far worse over the last year. The average life expectancy of a woman is 32 years and of a man is 37 years. This is clearly an intolerable situation.

We see abuse of human rights unprecedented on the African continent. Yet we again need to use all of our diplomatic offices. The hon. member suggests quiet diplomacy or diplomacy behind the scenes. I also suggest that maybe we should call in the Zimbabwe diplomats in Ottawa and indicate to them that if things do not improve, we would consider expelling them.

6:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member that we need to use the institutions we have available. He rightly pointed out that the Commonwealth is one of those institutions.

I want to tell the hon. member that at the end of the day, the president of Zimbabwe has openly said he will not listen to anything that comes from western countries. He will not go back to the old colonial style of white people telling him what to do. Of course his assumption is absolutely wrong. We are not interested in that kind of thing, but he has said that. That is why the best approach is to use the African Union, his own peers, to tell him that what he is doing is wrong.

Insofar as the representative of Zimbabwe in Canada, it is better for us to have the representative remain here and we can tell the representative what the Canadian people want to happen and she can tell her government what the Canadian public is saying. I am sure she will be listening to tonight's debate. I hope she will pass these comments on to her government and indicate how the people of Canada feel in reference to Zimbabwe.

6:50 p.m.

NDP

Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC

Mr. Speaker, on April 16, I asked the Minister of Health a question about the False Creek clinic in Vancouver. I will connect the dots a bit.

The False Creek clinic in Vancouver is charging patients hundreds of dollar for urgent care. Urgent care, as it describes it, is emergency like care, which is exactly what the Americans call emergency services.

I asked the minister whether he saw this American-like clinic in Vancouver as being a problem. We have seen many private clinics open across the country in the last number of years, not only under the current federal government but under the previous one. From time to time fines are levied, depending on which province it happens to be. I think B.C. and Ontario have had some fines. I am not aware that Quebec has had any fines.

When I asked my question at that time, the minister told me that he did not see any double standard at all in charging for what were medically necessary services. It seems to me that if an organization is charging for medically necessary services it is in breach of the Canada Health Act. To me that seems to be a problem. At that time, the Minister of Health assured the House that his department was reviewing the situation at False Creek.

I am very concerned about what is happening at that clinic. I am very concerned that we continue to slide down this slippery slope toward an American style health care with the opening of more private clinics and now private clinics charging for medically necessary services, which is absolutely what the Canada Health Act says we cannot do.

I am hoping that perhaps the parliamentary secretary could help me understand, in the next four minutes, two questions. First, why does the minister not think False Creek charging for medically necessary services is a problem. Second, why is that not in conflict with the Canada Health Act?

Perhaps he could spend the other two minutes explaining to me when we will hear back about the things that the ministry is looking into, things that have been raised in the House that are not a problem but are being looked into. I am not quite sure why, if it is not a problem, people are looking into it.

I am also looking for a timetable. When will we hear back about False Creek? When will we hear back from people looking into St. Paul's Hospital selling MRIs to people in off hours? When will we see a report come back to the House about those issues that are not a problem but which the ministry is looking into.

I am very concerned about the proliferation of private clinics and I look forward to the parliamentary secretary's answers to my two questions.

6:55 p.m.

Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia Manitoba

Conservative

Steven Fletcher ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Surrey North for raising the issue of the reopening of the False Creek Urgent Care Centre and also for the very strict timelines in answering her very interesting questions.

First, let me emphasize the federal government's desire to work in collaboration with the provinces and territories to ensure that the publicly funded health care system is strong, universally accessible and equitable and that Canadians have access to the care they need when they need it.

The Canada Health Act is Canada's federal legislation for publicly funded health care insurance. The Canada Health Act establishes criteria and conditions related to insured health services and extended health care services that provinces and territories must fulfill to receive the full federal cash contribution under the Canada health transfer.

The aim of the Canada Health Act is to ensure that all eligible residents of Canada have reasonable access to medically necessary services on a prepaid basis without direct charges at the point of service for such services.

The Canada Health Act requires that all medically necessary services provided by participating or enrolled physicians be covered by the provincial or territorial health insurance plan.

As the hon. member for Surrey North noted, on April 9 the False Creek Urgent Care Centre reopened to the public after recruiting doctors from out of province to work at the clinic. These physicians are not enrolled in British Columbia's medical services plan and, as a result, operate completely outside the provincial health insurance plan.

In this situation it is important to note that services provided by physicians who are not enrolled in their provincial or territorial health insurance plan, or who are non-participating physicians, are not considered insured health services under the Canada Health Act.

The right of physicians to practise outside of provincial or territorial health insurance plans was recognized by provinces in the 1960s and 1970s when they created their own medical health insurance programs.

Since the inception of the Canada Health Act in 1984, the position of the federal government has been that non-participation by physicians is acceptable under the Canada Health Act provided the physician is fully opted out and the patient is not entitled to a reimbursement from the plan for the services provided.

In addition, the right to opt out should never impede reasonable access to insured health services for provincial residents.

Therefore, in situations where physicians do not participate in the provincial or territorial health insurance plan, neither they nor their patients can recover the costs of the services rendered or received from the provincial health insurance plan.

These physicians may therefore establish their own fees, which are paid directly by the patient.

As noted, the provision of insured services by non-participating physicians is acceptable under the Canada Health Act as long as reasonable access to insured services is paid for by the province and is maintained.

While most provinces and territories allow for physician practice outside the plan, some provinces have chosen not to allow physicians to opt out of the public system.

With this in mind, let me assure the House that this government will continue to work collaboratively with the provinces and territories to uphold the principles of the Canada Health Act and the integrity of our publicly funded health care system.

7 p.m.

NDP

Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the sentiments that the parliamentary secretary has put forward, but I am back in the same position I was in five minutes ago. Let us focus on the what the real issue is here. The real issue is that there is a private clinic charging for medically necessary services. The Canada Health Act says that one may not charge for a medically necessary service.

My other point, on which I am not much further ahead either, is that the minister promised to look into the private MRIs being sold by St. Paul's Hospital and to report back. I am still looking for a timetable to hear that report.

This is not about general opting out. This is a private clinic charging for medically necessary services, which is in contradiction to the Canada Health Act. I expect the federal government to uphold the Canada Health Act.

7 p.m.

Conservative

Steven Fletcher Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB

Mr. Speaker, this government is upholding the principles of the Canada Health Act.

An important aspect of the Canada Health Act is that services provided by physicians who are not enrolled in their provincial or territorial health insurance plans, or “non-participating physicians”, are not considered ensured health services under the Canada Health Act, so the government is in fact upholding the principles of the Canada Health Act.

The Canada Health Act is an important piece of legislation. It ensures that Canadians have access to medically necessary services. It provides flexibility in how those services are delivered, be it not for profit or publicly or privately delivered, provided that they are publicly funded.

I think I have addressed the member's concerns. This government will uphold the Canada--

7:05 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette--Témiscouata--Les Basques.

7:05 p.m.

Bloc

Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to participate in today's debate. It allows me to follow up on a question I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the whole issue of the deplorable situation faced by a number of my constituents as well as those in many other ridings. There is no doubt about it.

As I indicated on April 23, the government is incapable of providing “adequate“ services. The word is deliberately chosen. We are not asking for the level of service to be outstanding, only fair and adequate. Simple passport applications and renewal applications are taking more time to process with each passing day. Canadian and Quebeckers who wish to travel are losing both time and money. Rural citizens—like those from my riding and many others—are at a particular disadvantage.

I asked the minister if he knew about this and if he was ready to commit to establishing a passport office for the Gaspé Peninsula and Lower St. Lawrence region. He answered by admitting that the situation was difficult. He spoke of 58 new Service Canada offices—and I will have something to say later on this topic—and of 500 new employees. I have something to say on this topic also, since they should be at work already but they are not. All this was done, as he said, “to address the bottleneck”.

Lastly, I did not appreciate at all, as some of my constituents, his call for patience. Patience is not what we need in my region, nor in other regions, in Neigette, Témiscouata and Les Basques. What we want is equity in services and adequate services from his department. We have already proven that we can be patient. We are ultra-patient, but there are limits.

The minister had the gall to mention Service Canada. In case he does not know, let me tell him: in Rimouski and in the Lower St. Lawrence, Service Canada offers no passport services whatsoever. In my office, my associates and I work diligently to help the citizens of my riding, and even those from other ridings that come to Rimouski for business. They come to the office of a member of Parliament. It is my pleasure to help them. That is what we are there for. However, the turnaround time is completely unacceptable. Let me give a few very simple examples.

The service called the MP Desk, where the turnaround time is two and a half months, does not include rejected passport photos, which can drive the turnaround time up by several weeks. In those cases, we have to inform Passport Canada to expedite the process. We must not forget that, when people do not include the amounts required and send everything by regular mail, the bags of regular mail are not even opened. Furthermore, there is no way of making sure that the letter was even received. Things are even worse when there is a receipt. We have learned—and this takes the cake—that Canada Post employees do not even have time to sign for the registered mail or priority post. That is extremely serious. The Canada Post CEO is investigating the matter.

The service given to MPs by phone and email is totally inadequate. Answers are vague and often inaccurate. I will give you four quick examples. We sent an email for an urgent request for example and only received an answer two weeks later. What a way to treat an urgent request! It also frequently happens that our calls are not returned, even if we have left a message saying that it was urgent. No call whatsoever. Officials at Passport Canada give us information on the status of a file, and a few days later we learn that the state of this file is completely—