Jim Flaherty

[Equalization Formula, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Wascana did nothing for Saskatchewan in all the years that he was representing Saskatchewan here in the House of Commons.

Unlike this government, which, this year alone, will transfer in budget 2007 more than $800 million to the province of Saskatchewan, the budget that the member for Wascana and his colleagues voted against three times in this place. The largest per capita payments in Canada are going to the people of the province of Saskatchewan and the member for Wascana is opposed.

[The Economy, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite refers to the Conference Board report and the data that is in that report. I must point out to the member opposite that all of that data is from 2005 and before, the result of the poor productivity performance under the previous Liberal government.

[The Economy, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member asks, when? Last October, I say to the member. It is called “Advantage Canada”. It was published last October. It is a medium and long term economic plan for our country, including an innovation advantage.

We have already begun implementing it in budget 2007, including the very beneficial accumulated capital cost allowance for manufacturing industries mainly in central Canada, which that member voted against.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

No, Mr. Speaker. I have had discussions since March 19, the day of the budget, with the minister of finance of Nova Scotia, with the acting minister of finance of Nova Scotia subsequently, and with the premier, with respect to implementation, because Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are in a unique situation in Canada because they have these accord agreements.

The other provinces and territories do not, so they are the only two jurisdictions that have a choice to make between continuing with the accord just as it was before March 19, right to the end of their entitlement under the accords, if they choose to do that, or electing to enter the new O'Brien formula.

That is an issue of some complexity. That requires some analysis. We have had a series of discussions concerning the implementation and the choices to be made.

We made an early decision, at the request of the province of Nova Scotia, and in fact during the first week after March 19, because the Nova Scotia budget was to be delivered on the Friday and this budget was earlier in the week, on March 19. The concern of the government of Nova Scotia was that it felt it was asked to make a sudden choice and it needed more time.

We said to go ahead and elect into the modified O'Brien formula, the new formula, which it did for this year, this 12 month period, and receive an extra $95 million for the people of Nova Scotia, and then take time to consider its choices. In fact, that is what the government has been doing and we have been doing in discussion with it.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am unaware of any such precedent, but it is an excellent question which relates to democratic reform and the need to reform the other place, with senators there who are unelected, some of whom seem to think that it is within their purview to delay money bills from this place, this place where we are all elected to act on behalf of the people of Canada and to make sure that in a fiscal sense the economic federation works well.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, while I thank the member for her questions, she raises the point of reasonable and timely debate. She is a member of the New Democratic Party. There are 29 members of that party in this place. I understand that a total of 24 speeches were given by that party on this bill. One would think that tends toward a fulsome debate on a particular bill.

With respect to moving the bill forward and consultations and agreements, as I mentioned earlier, there was an agreement between the government and the Liberal Party, the official opposition, to move Bill C-52 to the Senate by June 6. That agreement was broken by the Liberal opposition. That is one of the reasons, of course, why we have to move forward.

The government kept asking the other parties in this place how many speeches would be given. Some of the other parties kept adding speakers, so we have come to a place where, as a responsible government, what does one do? We have these very substantial large transfers from the federal government to our government partners in Canada in the provinces and the territories. We need to get them out. The Liberal opposition apparently does not feel any urgency to work with our partners in Confederation for this to happen. In fact, the Liberal opposition broke its agreement to move this bill to the Senate by June 6.

For all of these reasons it is our duty as a government to move forward and make sure that the country works well as a federation in the fiscal sense, that is, that transfers happen for these important areas of government activity, for the people of Canada and of course for those relying on transfers relating to the environment, the Canada social transfer and the other important transfers.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Peterborough not only for the good question, which actually gets at the factual issues here in the House and the factual consequences, but also for his speech on this bill last Friday and for his hard work in the House of Commons finance committee on many issues, including Bill C-52.

What happens if this budget bill does not pass? When we talk about the environment, this will not happen: $1.5 billion to support provincial and territorial governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. In health, this will not happen: $612 million to support provinces and territories to put in place a patient wait times guarantee, which is vitally important to all of us across Canada.

In terms of training and post-secondary education, there is to be $570 million for Ontario for post-secondary education and training, which is very important to the people of my home province of Ontario. In terms of the territories, there is to be $54 million for the Northwest Territories to cover payments related to the previous formula arrangements. It very important to the territorial governments that they gets the funds to which they are entitled so they can carry on with day to day government in Canada's north.

In British Columbia, and these are important environmental initiatives, there is to be $30 million to promote environmentally sustainable practices in the spirit bear rainforest and Queen Charlotte Islands areas, which are beautiful areas of British Columbia.

Again on training, there is to be $21 million for Manitoba and $18 million for Saskatchewan for labour market training.

As I say, all of these things will not happen unless we pass Bill C-52.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is correct that Bill C-52 does address a very serious inequity in the Canadian tax system, that is, it would introduce a tax on distributions from certain publicly traded income trusts and limited partnerships, effective beginning with the 2007 taxation year. I thank the members of the NDP for supporting that measure.

Unlike the member for Mississauga South and his colleagues, we believe in tax fairness. This is an issue of some corporations that were paying the normal corporate tax rate and some that were choosing to become income trusts so they would not have to pay their fair share of taxes in Canada, which simply means that unless we change the law this advantage would be taken by certain corporate entities over some other corporate entities. It means that other people would have to make up the taxes so that we would have proper funding of health care, education and other important priorities of Canadians.

There is no mystery to this. It is quite straightforward. As I say, I thank the NDP for seeing the light. I regret that the Liberal opposition, including the member for Mississauga South, has failed to see the importance of tax fairness for Canadians.

With respect to speaking to the bill, I am told that at report stage the member for Calgary—Nose Hill, who is my parliamentary assistant, spoke to the bill.

Of course, the government members have the advantage of working directly in making sure that we answer their questions and that I can answer their questions concerning the budget bill, but also, they see the absolute importance of getting this bill passed before the end of June so that the transfers, the important Canada social transfers for important parts of provincial agendas, can be transferred to the provinces and territories. They see that clearly. Regrettably, it does not appear to have been seen by the members opposite, including the member for Mississauga South.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the concerns mentioned by the member. I also understand that 22 concurrence motions have been brought in with respect to debate on this matter.

The member talked about thorough and reasonable debate. I understand that 30 speeches in total have been given by Liberal members on Bill C-52 and 24 speeches in total by the NDP. This includes a series of members from both of the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party who have spoken more than once to this issue, which is their right.

However, when the member raises the issue of reasonable debate, I think it is reasonable to look at the number of speeches that have been given, the number of concurrence motions that have been brought forward and the number of members who have spoken more than once with respect to Bill C-52.

With respect to consultations, I understand that the government House leader and the deputy government House leaders have had a series of discussions with their opposition counterparts with respect to the progress of the bill.