Pauline Picard

[Taxation, April 7th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, during the 1998 election campaign in Quebec, the Prime Minister, who lent his support to the Quebec Liberals, stated that, as far as the constitution is concerned, the general store was closed.

Are we to understand that, in 2003, the President of the Treasury Board is telling Jean Charest that when it comes to the fiscal imbalance, the till is empty?

[Taxation, April 7th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, whether the federal government likes it or not, the fiscal imbalance accounts for a $50 million a week shortfall for Quebec.

Are we to understand from its denying the existence of a fiscal imbalance that the federal government intends to maintain the status quo and take no action to change a situation that is depriving Quebec of $50 million a week?

[Dairy Producers, April 3rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister realize that he is the one who has the power to solve the problem? What is he waiting for to convince his colleague, the Minister of National Revenue, to beef up tariffs and put the brakes on imports?

[Dairy Producers, April 3rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, contrary to statements made by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, dairy producers expressed their discontent because his inaction caused them to lose $30 million per year because of imported foreign blends of oil, butter and sugar that get around quotas.

Of course the minister can say that it takes a long time to implement corrective measures, but we have known about this problem for seven years now. What is he waiting for to do something?

[Marie-Christine Salvas, April 2nd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian tennis championships are underway in Montreal. They mark the end of the winter season for Marie-Christine Salvas, a student at polyvalente Jean Raimbault, in Drummondville.

Two weeks ago, she came second in the under-16 category at the Quebec championships, and also distinguished herself in the doubles finals.

During the winter, she participated in the Prince Cup and Junior Orange Bowl tournaments in Florida, where she qualified for the main draw for both, playing against players from around the world.

With her school administration's cooperation, Marie-Christine is able to combine studying with training and travelling for tournaments. She also relies on the experienced advice of coach François Champagne.

This day, April 2, is a special day for Marie-Christine Salvas: she is turning 15. I wish her a happy birthday, and good luck in pursuing her goals.

[Gilbert Corniglion, March 31st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight the work being done by one of my constituents, who is getting ready to take part in a major humanitarian operation in Iraq.

Gilbert Corniglion is currently working for the Red Cross. After spending a year in Sri Lanka, he arrived in Jordan at the beginning of the year, where he worked providing vital assistance to communities living in zones of conflict.

In an interview published in a riding weekly newspaper, he said, and I quote, “Arab-Palestinian opinion is massively and staunchly anti-American, and is flaring up in favour of Saddam. The same thing is happening in Amman, where the regime is walking a tightrope because of its support for the United States”.

Since there is a war being waged, we will have to look after those who pour into the refugee camps. How many will there be? Hundreds? Millions? No one knows. However, Mr. Corniglion said that one thing that is sure, unfortunately, is that there will be a great deal of work.

I applaud the work that Mr. Corniglion and all of the Red Cross workers are doing.

[Income Tax Act, March 31st, 2003]

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

[Income Tax Act, March 31st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the government for his generosity.

The Bloc Quebecois is pleased to speak to Motion No. 293, the purpose of which is to improve the living conditions of creative and interpretive artists. I thank the hon. member for Dartmouth for raising this matter before the House, one we will support, of course.

In Quebec there is already similar legislation. All of us here, I believe, acknowledge the inestimable contribution made by the artists of Quebec and Canada. If artists succeed in making a name for themselves internationally, it is because they have already gained recognition here. The fastest growing sector of manpower here is the cultural sector.

We have all experienced magical moments provided to us by one kind of cultural activity or another: a song, a musical creation, a play, a concert, a book salon, a chance to meet a writer. These all provide us with an insight into something new.

Each of us can remember being moved by a Cirque du Soleil performance, or a book by the likes of Marie Laberge or Neil Bissoondath. Let us think of all the creative minds behind Céline Dion's super-spectacular show in Las Vegas, or the fascinating Légendes fantastiques presented in Drummondville.

The 1999 report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, entitled “A Sense of Place--A Sense of Being”, stated the following:

From the Committee's standpoint, investing in the arts is no less important than investing in the social sciences, humanities, the pure sciences or medicine. The Committee is also aware of the long-term commitments made to researchers and scholars by other federal government agencies and looks for a similar level of commitment to Canadian artists...The Committee feels that support to individual creators should be increased.

We support the demand for increased assistance to creative and interpretive artists, and Motion No. 293 gives us an opportunity to show this support. The intent of the motion is to exempt creative and interpretive artists from paying income tax on a percentage of income derived from copyright, neighbouring rights, and/or other income derived from the sale of any creative work. Creative artists take the biggest risks and are not paid for the time they spend doing research or project development, only for the distribution of the final product.

What are neighbouring rights? They protect performers, such as actors, singers, and record producers and radio broadcasters. Although neighbouring rights seem similar to copyrights, there is a difference. In general, copyright protects songwriters, while neighbouring rights protect singers. Music performers can produce work subject to neighbouring rights called a performer's performance. Sometimes, neighbouring rights are guaranteed in a contract.

Many artists are self-employed. Being a self-employed artist has some advantages when it comes to being creative, but many disadvantages when it comes to getting paid, and many artists live below the poverty line. Income tax deductions do nothing to improve the situation, since if an artist's income is insufficient, being entitled to deductions does not change anything. Not only do artists make very little money, how much they make can vary greatly from one year to the next.

The federal government, in announcing cuts of $25 million over the next two years to the Canadian Television Fund, or CTF, in its latest budget, is not helping interpretive and creative artists.

Many artisans spend their lives struggling from one financial crisis to the next, unless they are, or have been, extremely successful in their particular field.

The perseverance of our artists has allowed audiences in Quebec, Canada and around the world to discover the talents that we have here.

In Quebec, the relevant sections of the Taxation Act that affect what is contained in Motion No. 293 are sections 80, 128, 59 and 68. Obviously, Quebec's Union des artistes intervened on several occasions to ask for these exemptions on copyright revenues. The Canadian Conference of the Arts also asked for tax breaks on copyright revenues.

Cultural products are very labour intensive. Many artists live below the poverty level and some of them could become so discouraged that it could prevent them from producing major works.

In its budget proposal to the finance committee in September 2002, the CCA recommended introducing an annual tax exemption on copyright royalties only, as is currently the case in Quebec. Incidentally, this idea had already been the subject of a private member's bill, a few years ago.

In Quebec, artists were eligible for an annual exemption on copyright revenues based on a sliding scale up to $30,000 at first. This has now been raised to $60,000.

The third recommendation reads as follows:

That the government of Canada give serious consideration to supporting Canada’s professional artists and creators, the cornerstone of Canada’s cultural industries and institutions, by exempting up to $60,000 of annual copyright income.

Other countries have adopted similar measures. Ireland is unique in its tax breaks because there are virtually no taxes at all. However, based on our information, some countries allow income to be carried over into subsequent years, countries such as Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Greece, France, the U.K. and Luxembourg. Australia allows artists with unstable incomes to carry them over a five year period.

Given that artists contribute so much to our experience and our quality of life, the Bloc Quebecois supports Motion No. 293, moved by the member for Dartmouth. We hope that all of our colleagues in the House will recognize the exceptional contribution that artists make to our cultural life, and that they will also support this motion.

I move, pursuant to provisional Standing Order 93(3) for Private Members' Business:

That the motion be amended by replacing the word “Canada's” with the word “a”.

The member for Matapédia—Matane seconds this amendment.

[Agriculture, March 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, despite numerous objections from farmers, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has been saying for a long time now that he intends to impose his policy framework. His plan is creating anger and panic among farmers, who have a hard time understanding what the rush is.

Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food get it into his head that what farmers are demanding is a one-year delay and nothing less?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2003, March 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the Budget Implementation Act, 2003.

In the days after the federal budget was brought down, there was generalized criticism of it, and justifiably so.

There is nothing reassuring about this budget, because it marks a return to the irresponsible habits that brought Canadian public finances to the verge of bankruptcy. Was it not necessary to require a very considerable effort by the taxpayers in order to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit?

For 2003-04 alone, the budget announces a record rise in expenditures in the order of 11.5%. The last hike like this was also of the Liberals' doing; 20 years ago, in 1983-84, the finance minister of the day raised expenditures 12.8%. So, you might say, nothing ever changes.

The budget documents also call for substantial increases for subsequent fiscal years. In all, there will be an increase of $25.3 billion between 2002-03 and 2004-05.

How can such expenditures be justified, when the government refuses to acknowledge the existence of fiscal imbalance within the Canadian federation?At any rate, only the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs still believes, and still states at every opportunity—to people's amusement—that there is no fiscal imbalance.

However, from one end of the Canadian federation to the other, all the stakeholders, ministers, and even the provincial premiers, are in agreement and admit that there is a fiscal imbalance.

The Liberal government has a habit of announcing that the federal debt is higher than provincial debt. We could have understood the government keeping a tighter grip on the public purse. It is true that the debt is the government's largest expenditure.

But the Minister of Finance is sending a clear message by deciding to untie the purse strings. There is money and lots of it.

Some seasoned financial observers have called this budget a spending orgy. Despite the conflict in Iraq and tensions in the Middle East, the government has opened the floodgates and started to spend. Its timing is quite unfortunate, since we do not know the economic repercussions of the war led by the American-British forces.

I would like to review each item in this budget. Health care gets most of the headlines these days. Health care represents the biggest expenditure for each province, along with education and social services.

In Quebec, currently, health care represents 42% of the government's total budget. In a few years, the budget for health care, education and social services will represent at least 80%—in any case, more than 75%. There will probably be 15% left for the other expenditures, such as transportation. This is unacceptable.

Expenditures, particularly in health care, are growing faster than provincial revenue streams, which depend in part on federal transfer payments to the provinces.

When the premiers came to Ottawa, they spoke of the consequences of the federal government's withdrawal from health care funding. The needs are great: Quebec requires $1.6 billion for service delivery. However, after numerous protests and despite Ottawa's enormous surplus, the federal government has granted Quebec a measly $800 million.

During this meeting, the Liberal Prime Minister told the premiers, “It is my wallet, and you will take what I give you, period”. That is disgraceful.

This is a clear indication that health is not a priority for the federal government. The numbers speak for themselves. The federal government announced a $6 billion investment over three years, yet it is sitting on a $30 billion surplus.

Once again the federal government tried to overestimate the true value of its reinvestment in the health system, not to mention that it tried to shove its health reform down our throats with huge ad campaigns.

The measures announced are inadequate to meet the provinces' health needs. Health costs are enormous and the federal government refuses to give the provinces enough money to pay for them. Health is a provincial responsibility. The Liberals need to understand that once and for all.

There is no greater disappointment than what happened with employment insurance. The minister was unable to be transparent and meet our demands to stop pillaging the fund. Instead of creating an independent fund, he chose to form a consultation committee. If ever there have been consultations, it was for employment insurance.

We agree with the principles that were announced to make the contribution calculations transparent and to ensure balance between revenues and the cost of the program. However, all this has already been largely agreed to. It has been settled. Why does the Minister of Finance keep flip-flopping? He should have the courage of his ambitions and set up an independent employment insurance fund. Instead, he is going to continue consulting and in the meantime, continue to pillage the fund, help himself to the surplus, let it build up, and have us believe in some sort of virtual accounting. Under this type of accounting, money goes directly to the debt. The surplus is not mentioned when it comes to consultations or priorities in terms of what the public needs.

I agree with the Liberals' claim that this budgetary item has seen a $2.3 million reduction, but this is not fair. There is nothing planned for accessibility to employment insurance. There is nothing to help older workers who lose their jobs; nothing for the many families in Quebec who are suffering financially because of the softwood lumber dispute.

The unions said they were especially upset by the Minister of Finance's plans for the employment insurance system. The president of the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques, François Vaudreuil, said:

The minister sidestepped the real problem. Instead of improving access for the unemployed—six out of ten unemployed people do not qualify—he reduced the premiums by an amount that was laughable.

Social groups have also demonstrated their disagreement. The spokesperson for the Mouvement des chômeurs de l'Estrie, Denis Poudrier, had nothing good to say about the announced decreases in EI premiums. He said:

In 1989, 93% of unemployed persons qualified for employment insurance. Now only 40% qualify. Instead of lowering premiums, the federal government should freeze them and strengthen the program, to re-establish access to the plan for 90% of the unemployed.

Among those who are dissatisfied with the situation is Nathalie Saint-Pierre, the head of the Union des consommateurs, who said:

Lowering the premiums is all well and good, but no one qualifies anymore. The government should have allowed access to this source of income for workers who do not qualify because of increasingly strict rules. Particularly since the fund is overflowing and that Ottawa has been dipping into it freely in recent years.

There is only one small consolation with regard to EI, when it comes to the budget. The government has agreed to establish six weeks of benefits coverage for compassionate leave.

It is too bad that this comes so late and that implementation is a long way off. It is premature to congratulate the government for this; we need to know the exact criteria that will determine what will be considered a serious illness. And, the worker will have to have accumulated at least 600 insurable hours of work in order to qualify. The self-employed again are not included.

It must be said that the provinces are ahead of the federal government on this. Quebec already provides coverage. Parents are eligible for five days to take care of a minor child who is sick, and in May, they will be granted 12 weeks coverage to care for an immediate family member with a serious injury or illness.

Given that the provinces are doing more than Ottawa, why would the federal government not reach an agreement with the provinces whereby compassionate leave would be granted under a provincial program, to which the federal government would transfer the necessary money?

Now for air security. In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Liberal government decided to address national security on an urgent basis, as was its duty. But the unfortunate part of this is that the now former Finance Minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, rushed in a new tax, a new direct tax on air travellers. Things were already going pretty badly in the airline industry and they did not need one more tax. This was shameful.

The member for LaSalle—Émard has admitted that he did not carry out any impact study before imposing this tax. How did he come up with the figure of $12 for a one-way trip and $24 for a round trip? The Lord only knows, and he did not tell us, as they say.

The former Minister of Finance has never been able to demonstrate his logic to us; instead he took refuge behind the promise to review the air passenger security charge later on. This is later on, yet we still do not really know what the money collected with this tax has gone for. We do not know whether the new systems are all in place and are effective.

But here we have the new Finance Minister announcing a reduction in the charge, from $12 one way to $7, but only for domestic flights. If someone has to go out of the country, the charge remains $12. In most cases, the same airport, sometimes even the same airline, is used. This is a very odd situation.

Air passengers are entitled to wonder whether they are being had. Where does the $329 million being used to reduce passenger charges come from? We are entitled to wonder whether the government has not been able to purchase the necessary security systems. Is that why they have surplus money on their hands?

I am quite amused by the note that Department of Finance officials took care to add at tab 6, page 2 of the briefing book they prepared. Among the questions and answers, one finds this: “During the process—of reviewing the amount of the charge—no substantive questions as to the amount or the structure of the reduction were raised by sector representatives.

Representatives of this sector are not stupid. When they came to Ottawa for prebudget consultations in the fall of 2001, they were told that there was nothing particularly scientific about how the amount had been arrived at. I remember the jaws of Department of Finance officials dropping when my hon. colleague for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot and I asked for impact studies and the guidelines used in deciding on the amount.

I remember also the waffling of the member for LaSalle—Émard, the former Minister of Finance, who finally admitted that no such study existed. He had nothing to justify his decision; not a thing. And to think that he wants to be the next Prime Minister. This is not very reassuring.

In summary, this debate is letting us shed some light on the fact that the government has announced insufficient additional investments in high need areas, such as health care, and given funds to programs and organizations that are infringing in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

The federal government clearly has no intention of doing anything about the fiscal imbalance. The creation of new organizations, programs and other initiatives will only make intergovernmental financial relations more dysfunctional.

The public's needs will never be adequately met because the provinces are not getting sufficient resources from the federal government.

When we vote on the Budget Implementation Act, 2003, many of our constituents will be disappointed. The list of measures that were not announced in the budget is long. There is no cut in the excise tax on gas or in the GST per litre of gas. The higher gas prices climb at the pump, the more the federal government pockets in sales taxes. Lord knows the price has jumped in recent weeks.

There are no new income tax cuts; no noticeable short-term increases in RRSP contribution limits; no increases in pension adjustments; nothing for seniors or women; and no significant decrease in EI premiums—just a measly $231 million from now until 2005. There are no increases in old age security—and Lord knows that seniors need this money because, although they founded our society, they are its most disadvantaged members—and no new measures to increase taxes on hidden salaries.

Directors of publically traded companies have cashed in at least $1 billion in recent years by selling shares acquired at bargain prices thanks to lucrative stock options. This is allowed, yet salaries are taxed at a combined federal and provincial rate of 48% in Quebec, while the earnings from cashing in options are taxed at only 24%.

The budget contains no tax deductions for volunteer work, and no additional deductions for charitable contributions.

In the end, there is not much to write home about in this budget and its implementing legislation.

We had hoped for more. However, since the era of the member for LaSalle—Émard, budgets have been characterized by extreme caution, which has always resulted in underestimated surpluses that get put toward debt reduction without any sort of debate.

In closing, our constituents have not noticed any changes to their paycheques. There are no new tax cuts on top of the $100 million announced by the member for LaSalle—Émard in 2000. At most, there is a two cent decrease in premiums per $100 of insurable earnings. That will be effective in 2004, so only next year.

There is nothing in this legislation to extend accessibility to the program or increase benefits. There is nothing to allow a taxpayer to contribute more to his RRSP.

I am also thinking about comments from retirees who feel completely ignored. One of them said:

We as middle class retirees did not benefit from $5 daycare, maternity leave, student grants and loans. We did not have a $13,500 RRSP limit, let alone $18,000. Yet, we pay a surtax on our old age security pension. Between 1994 and 2002, the cutoff for the pension went from $53,215 to $56,698, which is less than the increase in the cost of living. They said this surtax was meant to reduce the deficit. But these are just words from politicians whom we longer trust.

It is sad.

For once in Quebec, the three political parties were on the same wavelength in denouncing the federal intrusions contained in the budget that will become reality through the implementation act.

I will stop here, with an example not from someone in Quebec this time, but from Ontario's Minister of Finance, Janet Ecker, who basically said that the federal government was taking more money from taxpayers than it needed in order to fund its programs, while the provinces were having a terrible time funding the two largest programs in Canada: health and education. If this is what Ontario thinks, then the people on the other side will have to admit that fiscal imbalance indeed exists.

The Prime Minister's legacy budget is nothing more than a tool for political visibility. It is so scattered that Canadians have a hard time figuring out which direction it is taking.

Instead of this terrible situation, Quebec is offering a clear direction to its people; a plan that is also taking hold in western Canada. We propose to them the only true alternative: sovereignty.