Debates of Dec. 11th, 2012

Motor Vehicle Safety

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

There are still several members rising to present petitions and we only have about five minutes left, so let us have very brief summaries.

The hon. member for Parkdale--High Park.

Public Transit

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition calling for a national public strategy. The Board of Trade in Toronto says that the lack of transit is a $6 billion drag annually on our GDP.

The petitioners are calling for an investment support plan for public transit.

Motor Vehicle Safety

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is about cycling safety. We recently had the tragic death of Tom Samson, a public school teacher at Parkdale Public School and Jenna Morrison. The implementation of a policy for side guards on trucks could well have prevented Ms. Morrison's death. Therefore, the petitioners are asking for that.

Gatineau Park

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be brief. I have the honour to present a petition to support the protection of Gatineau Park.

Transport

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition regarding transportation in Canada.

Public Transit

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions.

The first pertains to the national public transit strategy that the hon. member for Trinity—Spadina is trying to have implemented.

Cycling Safety

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns side guards for trucks on our shared roads.

I myself am a cyclist, and this is something that could help improve road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Child Pornography

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present.

The first petition is from the Catholic Women's League of St. Luke's Parish. It is signed by hundreds of people from the West Island who want changes to eradicate pornography content on the Internet, as well as the sexual exploitation of children.

Pensions

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada. Thousands of Quebeckers are asking the government to keep the eligibility age for old age security at 65, to improve old age security benefits, to improve Canada pension plan benefits and to increase Canada pension plan benefits.

Gatineau Park

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will try to be brief, but petitions ensure that Canadians are heard in the House.

I have three petitions to present this morning. The first concerns the possibility of enacting legislation to protect Gatineau Park so that all future generations can enjoy it as much as I do.

Public Transit

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns the national public transit strategy. Canada is the only OECD country that still does not have a transit policy.

Cycling Safety

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition concerns the installation of truck side guards in order to protect cyclists and pedestrians from preventable accidents.

Housing

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today. The first concerns the fact that 1.5 million families have difficulty finding a place to live. The petitioners are asking the government to support the bill to adopt a national housing strategy introduced by my colleague, the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

Cycling Safety

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

The second petition is in English so I will say it in English. It is about cycling safety. It calls upon the federal government to take up its responsibility to set standards.

Public Health

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is in support of my Motion No. 400, which calls upon the government to ensure rural equality for waste water management.

Transport

[José Nunez-Melo, NDP, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present two petitions in the House today. The first petition has to do with the national transit strategy.

Cycling Safety

[José Nunez-Melo, NDP, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the safety of cyclists and vehicles on the road.

Gatineau Park

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today calling on the government and the House of Commons to pass legislation that will give Gatineau Park the necessary legal protection to preserve it for future generations.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am also presenting a petition regarding the need to give Gatineau Park legal protection to preserve it for future generations.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 1017 and 1036.

Question No. 1117

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

With regard to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA): (a) since August 1, 2012, what is the total amount disbursed to the Director General of Operations for Prince Edward Island (PEI) for (i) travel expenses, (ii) hospitality expenses, (iii) travel status benefits; (b) since August 1, 2012, what is the total cost incurred and the amount disbursed in relation to official language training for ACOA’s Director General of Operations for PEI; and (c) has ACOA provided authorization of any amount of funds in relation to (i) the examination of the employment of the Director General of Operations for PEI by the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC), (ii) the judicial review of the order of the PSC in that matter and, if so, what is the amount which has been authorized, and what is the amount which has been disbursed to date?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) (La Francophonie)]

Mr. Speaker, insofar as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is concerned, and with respect to (a) on the amount disbursed to the director general of operations for Prince Edward Island, since August 1, 2012, no funds have been disbursed for (i) travel expenses, (ii) hospitality expenses, and (iii) travel status benefits. With respect to (b) regarding the official language training for ACOA’s director general of operations for PEI, since August 1, 2012, the total cost incurred is $3,979.00 and the total amount disbursed is $6,064.00 for the full third quarter calendar year, and the director general of operations is no longer receiving training. With respect to (c)(i)(ii), the response is no.

Question No. 1036

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

With regard to the Income Tax Act, has the government calculated what would be the annual fiscal impact of making all non-refundable tax credits within the Act into refundable tax credits and, if so, what is this projected annual fiscal impact?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, refundable tax credits are akin to expenditure programs delivered through the tax system and have long been used in very limited circumstances. In the majority of circumstances, expenditure programs are often a more appropriate way to direct funding to certain individuals and businesses, since programs can be designed and administered in a manner that facilitates targeting to achieve a specific goal. The government treats these measures as spending programs in the public accounts.

Preliminary estimates suggest the cost of converting existing non-refundable tax credits for individuals into refundable tax credits would be greater than $11.5 billion in 2013. Note that this represents a lower bound estimate, as it assumes that only the unused value of the non-refundable tax credits currently claimed would be refunded.

A number of other factors could contribute to substantially increasing the cost of converting existing non-refundable tax credits into refundable tax credits. These include the fact that the cost does not account for a potential increase in the take-up of existing non-refundable credits.The cost of refundability would also be greater in the early years of such a policy, since credits that are currently allowed to be carried forward to future years, such as amounts for education, textbooks, and tuition, as well as the charitable donations tax credit, would be claimed in the year the costs were incurred. Moreover, the cost could increase significantly depending on the parameters for refundability. As an example, there are 5.6 million children in Canada of ages up to 14 years old, who in the majority of cases will not have employment income. If a refundable basic personal amount could be claimed in respect of these children, providing a refundable amount of $1,623 per child, the cost of refundability could potentially be in the range of $9 billion higher.

In the corporate income tax system, tax credits are provided to encourage businesses to engage in certain types of activities or to invest in certain regions. Businesses, incorporated and unincorporated, are permitted to offset income tax otherwise payable with non-refundable investment tax credits. When a corporation has more non-refundable tax credits than tax owing in an individual year, the unused value of the tax credits can be carried back three years to refund tax paid in past years, or be carried forward 20 years to offset tax otherwise payable in future years. The principal objective of this carryover system is to improve fairness and smooth out the impact of business cycles. In addition, a component of the scientific research and experimental development, SR and ED, tax incentive program and the Atlantic investment tax credit is refundable for smaller businesses.

It is estimated that making non-refundable investment tax credits refundable for all businesses would cost at least $1.7 billion in 2013. Note that this represents a lower bound, as it assumes no behavioural response. In deriving this estimate, five non-refundable investment tax credits were examined, including the scientific research and experimental development tax incentive program, the Atlantic investment tax credit, the apprenticeship job creation tax credit, the child care spaces investment tax credit, and the corporate mineral exploration and development tax credit. Furthermore, if the value of the unused investment tax credits being carried forward was fully refunded in 2013, there would be an additional one-time cost to the federal government that is estimated to be $10.8 billion.

The annual cost of refundability would likely be greater than this $1.7 billion static estimate, as refundability may change how corporations respond to investment tax credits. For example, the non-refundable SR and ED tax credits encourage companies to locate other profitable activities and associated jobs in Canada, since any tax on these activities is reduced by the value of the SR and ED tax credits. Extending SR and ED refundability to large multinational corporations could result in fewer related activities and less taxable income in Canada. Moreover, new corporations with little or no expectation of earning future profits in Canada would also likely be formed to take advantage of refundability.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, furthermore, if Questions Nos. 1021, 1026, 1027, 1028, 1032 and 1033 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.