House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2025, with 64% of the vote.
Carbon Pricing June 18th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, there really has been a scam that has been revealed. For weeks, for months, the Conservatives have been trying to distract and deceive. They have been trying to bamboozle Canadians. They have posed as being on the side of working people, on the side of people who live from paycheque to paycheque, but last week they showed their true colours and they voted against the plumber and the nurse. Now Canadians know whose side they are really on.
Carbon Pricing June 18th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, a deception was revealed last week. The deception was the fake pose of the Conservatives to pretend to be on the side of working people. Last week, we gave them a choice. We said they could be on the side of a nurse or a welder, a Canadian who lives from paycheque to paycheque, or they could side with a multi-millionaire. It did not surprise anyone on this side of the House that the Conservatives, yet again, chose their rich lobbyist friends. Shame on them.
Questions on the Order Paper June 17th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, climate change is an existential challenge, and climate action is critical to Canada’s long-term health and economic prosperity. Carbon pricing is widely recognized as the most efficient means of reducing our greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions, which is why the Government of Canada continues to make sure that it is not free to pollute in Canada.
The federal price on pollution is revenue neutral for the federal government; all of the direct proceeds from the federal carbon pricing system remain in the province or territory where they are collected. Put simply, every dollar collected from the carbon price is returned.
The Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax, or GST/HST, is calculated on the final amount charged for a good or service. The general rule that was adopted at the inception of the GST, in 1991 under prime minister Brian Mulroney, and carried over for the HST, is that this final amount includes other taxes, levies and charges that apply to the good or service and are generally embedded in the final price. As such, the final amount charged could include an amount attributable to the federal fuel charge. This longstanding approach to calculating the GST/HST ensures that tax is applied evenly across goods and services consumed in Canada. It also makes it easier for vendors to calculate the amount of tax payable, for consumers to understand, and for the Canada Revenue Agency to administer.
The incremental GST/HST revenues from the embedded federal fuel charge in the final price of goods and services are not available. The extent that the fuel charge is passed onto consumers will vary by type of goods and services, and the GST/HST is not applicable on some types of supplies, like basic groceries. This makes it difficult to precisely determine the additional GST/HST revenues from the federal fuel charge. Moreover, the government does not track the amount of GST/HST that is collected for each type of good or service that a vendor may sell. When firms remit the GST/HST that they have collected on their taxable sales, they report and remit to the Canada Revenue Agency only one single amount for all jurisdictions. Requiring vendors, like small businesses, to track GST/HST collected on the individual types of goods or services they sell by jurisdiction would impose a significant reporting burden on them.
The government reports the direct fuel charge proceeds collected and returned annually through the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act Annual Report. For more information on the proceeds collected and returned, please see the Annual Report for 2022 at the following website: https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.893583/publication.html.
Questions on the Order Paper June 17th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, climate action is critical to Canada’s long-term health and economic prosperity. Carbon pricing is widely recognized as the most efficient means of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the Government of Canada continues to make sure that it is not free to pollute in Canada.
The federal price on pollution is revenue-neutral for the federal government; the direct proceeds from the federal carbon pricing system remain in the province or territory where they are collected. Put simply, every dollar collected from the carbon price is returned.
As of the 2024 25 fiscal year, i.e., starting on April 1, 2024, in provinces where the federal fuel charge applies, 93% of direct fuel charge proceeds are returned to residents of these provinces through the quarterly Canada carbon rebate. Eight in 10 households receive more in rebate payments than the costs they face from the federal pollution pricing system. Those living in a rural or small community are eligible for a supplement in addition to the base Canada carbon rebate amount, except in Prince Edward Island, where all residents receive the same amount since there is no census metropolitan area. In recognition of rural Canadians’ higher energy needs and more limited access to cleaner transportation options, the government is proposing, through legislative amendments in Bill C 59, to double the rural supplement from 10% to 20% of the base rebate amount, starting in April 2024.
Also beginning in 2024-25, the proceeds allocated to indigenous governments will double from 1% to 2%, in recognition of the disproportionate impacts of climate change on indigenous communities.
As proposed in budget 2024, the share of proceeds allocated to small and medium sized businesses, SMEs, will be returned to them through the new Canada carbon rebate for small businesses. For 2019 20 to 2023 24, over $2.5 billion in proceeds from the price on pollution will be urgently returned to an estimated 600,000 small and medium sized businesses via an accelerated and automated return process. For 2024 25, $623 million in proceeds would be returned to eligible businesses. For this year and future years, the Canada carbon rebate will be assessed and delivered automatically when SMEs file their tax returns.
Moreover, the government continues to support small and medium sized businesses with initiatives that help them transform their businesses, save energy, and continue to be competitive. The government has supported small businesses through several initiatives, including by decreasing the small business tax rate; lowering credit card transaction fees; enhancing the Canada small business financing program; and twice extending the partial loan forgiveness of the Canada emergency business account, CEBA, program. CEBA delivered over $49 billion to help keep nearly 900,000 small businesses and non profits afloat during the pandemic.
Questions on the Order Paper June 14th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, regarding the response to parts (a) and (b), the Department of Finance consults with Canadians on issues large and small, enabling public input on policy options. The department seeks to ensure that as many people as possible, whether they represent businesses, groups with special interests or individual Canadians, get the opportunity to have their say.
On December 12, 2023, the government launched consultations to hear from Canadians on the most pressing challenges of today, such as making life more affordable, building more homes faster, and creating good jobs for Canadian workers today and for generations to come. These consultations would help inform decisions on budget 2024. These pre-budget 2024 consultations concluded on February 9, 2024.
Please note that the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. The Department of Finance concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted and could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.
Questions on the Order Paper June 12th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that the CPPIB is neither a department nor an agency of the Crown and therefore does not fall within the same guidelines for disclosure. The CPPIB is subject to disclosure requirements as set out in the CPPIB Act and reports to federal and provincial finance ministers and Canadians.
Taxation June 12th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, our government gave every single Conservative MP a chance to stand on the side of working people, of teachers, of nurses, of electricians, of carpenters and of welders. They cannot wiggle out of the shocking position they took. They took a position on the side of multi-millionaires, against working people and against fairness. Now, all Canadians know where they stand.
Taxation June 12th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry. I retract that. Let me just say that it was baffling to me that the Conservative leader is taking all the questions to show that he does not really understand what we are doing, but it gives me a chance to explain it to him.
It only kicks in after $250,000 of capital gains, this new level.
Taxation June 12th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful, because it does seem that the Conservative leader, who for baffling reasons wants to take all the questions, maybe to show off his ignorance, does not actually understand—
Taxation June 12th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, actually, there is a $250,000 threshold, so the new rate kicks in only after one has made $250,000 in capital gains in a given year. I do want to continue to help educate the Conservative leader. I am going to point him to—