Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise to speak to Bill C-48 this afternoon.
I would indicate right at the beginning that the Liberal Party does support the bill. We would like to see the bill ultimately go to committee. I do not think that comes as a surprise to members, because at the end of the day, we would argue that many, if not virtually all, of the amendments we are talking about should have been and could have been passed years ago. There is a cost to Canadians, because the government has been so lax in wanting to pass this necessary legislation.
Having said that, I think Canadians would likely recall that last year the Conservatives had two massive budget bills. In those budget bills they threw in all sorts of pieces of legislation. For some peculiar reason they felt it was necessary to bundle in so many pieces of legislation and pass them through the back door of the budget debate.
When I reflect on it, and I have had the opportunity to discuss the issue with many of my constituents, I think the general feeling is that it was just wrong and anti-democratic. So many things could be said about what the government did last year, which was inappropriate, undemocratic and just not worthy of passage through this House.
On the other hand, we have this massive bill. It is important to take note of it. The bill is in excess of 900 pages. Sometimes when legislation is overhauled, there is a need to bring in substantial changes that will dictate that we have to have literally hundreds of pages, thousands of words, to get through all the amendments necessary to change that legislation. That does not apply to this particular bill.
Over the years we have seen the need for numerous changes in our taxation laws. The number has dramatically increased over the last few years. This matter was before our Auditor General. It was before our public accounts committee. A couple of years back, our public accounts committee suggested that the government act on this issue and that the government bring in smaller pieces of legislation to enact the many technical changes that are required for our tax laws. The committee made those recommendations years ago.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the government has sat idly by and allowed the list to grow considerably, to the point at which today we have a document that is excessive in terms of the number of amendments that have to be made to modernize or update our taxation laws.
Those amendments are all technical. Many of them are very small in nature, but some of them are quite significant. In reading it through and being provided some information, I want to highlight two or possibly three of them to provide examples.
For example, self-employed individuals can now contribute to EI. Bill C-48 ensures that those contributions are deducted from the annual income for taxation purposes in the same manner that employees' contributions are deducted. It is a very important change.
Then we go to the labour-sponsored venture funds. In 2010, Ontario was phasing out the tax credits for these funds. There have been other issues surrounding labour venture capital funds. I could talk at great length on some of the problems we had in the province of Manitoba while I was an MLA. At the end of the day, changes will be made to our taxation laws that will help deal with some of those funds.
Regarding airlines, provinces and taxes, this clarifies the allocation of miles flown over certain territorial waters for the purpose of provincial taxation.
There is one change regarding our first nations with respect to GST, so that they might choose to levy a sales tax on a reserve by allowing the Canada Revenue Agency to collect an administrative tax. All money collected would be returned to the band council. Bill C-48 would allow Revenue Quebec to fulfill that same function.
Even though we talk about the hundreds of changes that are very technical in nature, it is important that we recognize that those changes are absolutely critical. In fact, what we will find quite often when we look at the taxation books that try to provide advice to consumers is that much of it is coded, whether with asterisks, different colours or faded colours. Generally speaking, that is in reference to the fact that there was a need to change the legislation, but it has not yet been changed; it is still pending. Because it is still pending they have to make a note of that. We have an industry out there of tax lawyers, accountants, all sorts of advocacy groups and others who assist individuals in preparing their taxes. They have to take note of the many different changes we are expecting because until they pass they are not the law. Therefore, it is a very important issue.
I question why it took the government so long. Taxation is of critical importance to our nation. I have had the privilege of being an elected member, whether it was here or in the province of Manitoba as an MLA, for 20-plus years. People are concerned about taxes and the many forms of taxation. They believe there is a need for change. They would like to see more progressive changes to the way government collects its taxes. We need to have that debate. We need to encourage reforming the system where we can, not only these minor technical changes but in some cases major technical changes. There is a lot more that we can actually do.
I am surprised that the government has taken as long as it has. I felt that it would have been in a good position two, three or four years ago to put together the legislation that would have made many of the changes that were proposed many years ago, as opposed to allowing them to accumulate. I say this now because we know that, as time continues on, there will be future changes. We are not suggesting that it has to be done on an annual basis or even every second year. It depends on the technical changes that are required, the number of changes and, in good part, the government's agenda. It could be a budget implementation coming forward, which would cause additional changes. It could be a wide variety of reasons for which one could ultimately justify holding off for three or four years. To wait for 10 years, to allow it to go that long, has done a disservice to all Canadians because we want certainty in our tax laws. We better serve all forums, whether business or individual, by ensuring our laws are fair and are updated on a regular basis.
I encourage the government not to wait as long and, ultimately even when we go into committee, to look at and be open to the possibility of having other changes. In that sense, we in the Liberal Party support the bill to go to committee. We are not here to hold up the debate on the bill. We would like to see it go to committee.
I want to take advantage of this opportunity to speak on this bill to expand on a couple of ideas or thoughts I have had. Yesterday there was a special event in Winnipeg North. It is kind of an annual perogy lunch that I host. We had about 140 to 160 people show up. It afforded me the opportunity to really have some good healthy discussions with many of them and to address the group.
There are some real concerns that need to be addressed. Some of those concerns deal with taxation and the potential of providing tax deductions. This applies to Canadians from coast to coast to coast, but I talked to one individual who said she is on a very limited income, as are many seniors. They own their home because they have maybe lived in it for 25 or 30 years. However, they are on a fixed, relatively small income. At times there is a need to improve or fix up their homes.
Quite often what these seniors are looking for is a tax deduction or something that would allow them the opportunity to improve the structure of their home or to make some improvement. It would ultimately improve our housing stock if we allowed more seniors to be able to do that. They have the equity.
At the end of the day, tax incentives or tax deductions may be able to assist a senior and possibly stimulate the economy. When home renovations are encouraged or promoted, as the Liberal Party has done over the last year or more, talking about the benefits of having home renovation programs, the money will be spent locally, which in turn creates more employment.
If tax dollars can be grown by $6, $7, $8, $9 or $10 because individuals are using some of their own money, it all helps out. These are the types of things that I would like to think we should be talking about more inside the House, not only during budget debates but also when the public accounts committee meets and when we have bills of this nature and are talking about the technicalities of taxation laws.
We should be talking about the importance of how taxation laws allow us to facilitate government programs through deductions or tax credits. Imagine the impact we have on charitable organizations.
Every province and territory has numerous charitable organizations that are very much dependent on those charitable tax numbers. Progressive government policies and good tax programs or incentives allow those charitable organizations to prosper and to be able to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Again, it goes right back to the Canada Revenue Agency, our taxation laws and priorities for the government. That is why I am suggesting it is very important for us to add it to the debate.
I am very concerned about our middle class. The middle class in Canada could be doing so much better. To what degree are our taxation policies allowing the middle class to grow? I believe most economists would tell us that the middle class is actually shrinking in Canada, even though the vast majority of Canadians, 90% or more, would say they are a part of the middle class.
At the end of the day we know that the rich in Canada are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, relatively speaking. We know that the middle class is not growing. There is a growing inequity that is taking place. Taxation laws are one of the tools that can be used to deal with that issue.
When we talk about taxation laws, I believe it is a very important subject in which members should participate and share their ideas on how we could be a better society if we deal with it.
I made reference to different forms of taxes. Over the years, Revenue Canada does just one component of taxes. Income, property and consumption taxes are likely the big three. These are issues with which the public have a great deal of concern. There is a feeling the government is not doing enough to justify collecting the taxes that are being collected.
At the end of the day, it is important that we recognize all forms of taxes when we talk about income tax because that is what the average Canadian does. When we talk about income tax and in particular Bill C-48, I would ask the question I posed to the parliamentary secretary. What is in the bill to make taxation that much simpler for the average Canadian to understand? How does the middle class benefit from it? Is it consumer friendly?
Today I had a discussion with an individual who indicated to me that people cannot get a printed version of the income tax booklet. At one time the post office had income tax booklets which contained all the basic tax laws and information required to complete the forms. It is my understanding the booklet is no longer available, or at the very least to the same degree that it was available in the past. People say that we can get the information from the Internet. I think it is a mistake for us to be so dependent on individuals having to use the Internet or purchase a computer program in order to file their income tax returns.
Are there ways in which we can make the system simpler? What about those individuals who have a difficult time filing the very basic income tax returns? That happens a great deal. There are some non-profit groups that have a fairly decent understanding of our taxation laws and offer services to a lot of people who are on low or fixed incomes. To what degree would the proposed changes make it simpler for those individuals to get their taxes done on an annual basis?
I have had the opportunity over the years to go through my own income tax and I have had assistance in dealing with it, primarily because of time constraints and so forth. However, the bottom line is that I believe it is becoming more and more complicated in many different ways.
There are issues relating to why one group would get a tax break over another group. The issue of tax fairness is what I am referring to there.
I have heard many members in the chamber talk about the importance of dealing with tax avoidance. There are many individuals across the country who get away with not having to pay their fair share of federal tax. That applies at the provincial level also where there are many who are escaping paying their fair share of taxes.
Taxation is an important policy issue. It is through taxation that we are able to provide the types of services that Canadians want, whether it is in connection with health care, Canadian Forces, or the many other services that we provide throughout the land. That is all based on our ability to collect taxes and having good, solid tax laws.
The government has the responsibility to maintain the integrity of our taxation laws. That is the reason I believe it is important to have this debate now and to take this to the next step and allow the bill to go to committee so that ultimately it can pass and Canadians can see better tax laws.