Michael Levitt

[Canada Labour Code, February 5th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I would like to inform you I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Winnipeg North.

Madam Speaker, I am here today to ask for the support of the House for Bill C-4, which would repeal the legislative amendments enacted by Bills C-377 and C-525 of the previous Parliament.

I am proud to call York Centre home to a large number of businesses and manufacturers. I have met people and heard stories from businesses that started in their garages and have grown into international brands. These range from storefronts to factories, many of which are local success stories that now have national, and even international, reach.

Not so coincidentally, York Centre is also home to a large number of unions and unionized workers. These are employees across a broad spectrum, from construction and the skilled trades, to factory workers, administrative employees, teachers, and public servants. It is no coincidence that my riding is home to so many thriving businesses and labour organizations. Both go together and have to worth together for our economy to thrive.

As we have stated before, our government believes that fair and balanced labour relations are absolutely essential for the prosperity of Canadian workers and our country's economic growth. Both employers and unions play critical roles in ensuring that workers receive decent wages and are treated fairly, in safe and healthy work environments.

It is our labour laws that help ensure there is a balance between the rights of unions and the rights of employers. However, in the previous Parliament, a number of pieces of legislation were passed that changed our labour relations system. Bills C-377 and C-525, private members' bills supported by the previous government, upset the delicate balance between unions and employers.

Under Bill C-377, labour organizations and labour trusts are required to provide the Canada Revenue Agency with details of their assets, liabilities, income and expenditures, as well as salaries paid to their officers, directors, and other specified employees. They are also required to provide information on the time spent by officers on political lobbying and non-labour relations activities. This information is then to be made publicly available on the CRA's website.

This creates unnecessary red tape for unions. Under the Canada Labour Code, unions in federally regulated workplaces, as well as employers' organizations, are already required to provide their financial statements to their own members, free and on demand. It is worth noting that eight provinces have similar financial disclosure requirements.

Why should unions be subject to these onerous and redundant reporting requirements, requirements that do not apply to other organizations that also benefit from similar status under the Income Tax Act, such as professional organizations?

Then there is the issue of this information being publicly available. Publishing this information on the CRA's website means that employers will have access to key union information, including how much they have set aside in a strike fund. It is not difficult to see how this puts the unions at a serious disadvantage during the collective bargaining process.

Essentially, Bill C-377 imbalances the system. This brings me to Bill C-525, which also tilts the scales in favour of employers.

Prior to Bill C-525, federally regulated private sector workers who wanted to organize could do so in a relatively simple and straightforward manner. If a majority of employees signed a union card, they could go to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, show it the signed union cards, and the CIRB could certify them as the bargaining agent for those workers. If less than a majority of employees signed union cards, but at least 35% did, a certification vote could be held. The card-check system worked well for many years, so why was it replaced by a system that many stakeholders, such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees, feel is less efficient and more vulnerable to employer interference?

Under Bill C-525, unions are required to show at least 40% membership support before holding a secret ballot vote, making it more difficult to get the right to vote. In addition, even when the majority of workers have clearly demonstrated their support by signing union membership cards, a secret ballot vote must be held before they can be certified as a bargaining agent.

The card check system, which is based on obtaining majority support, is no less democratic than a mandatory vote system. It has also proven to be an efficient and effective way to gauge employee wishes. According to the National Union of Public and General Employees, this two-stage process essentially forces those in favour of a union to vote twice. By slowing the process, the employer has the opportunity to intimidate, harass, and unethically induce employees to vote no. Not all employers would attempt to prevent unions from organizing. However, there are examples of those who have.

The bottom line is that Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 put unions at a disadvantage and make it more difficult for Canadian workers to unionize in the first place.

Why would we want to make life more difficult for unions and the workers they represent? We recognize the important role that unions play in protecting the rights of Canadians. As Canadian Labour Congress president Hassan Yussuff stated, Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 were “nothing more than an attempt to undermine unions’ ability to do important work like protecting jobs, promoting health and safety in the workplace, and advocating on behalf of all Canadian workers”.

The federal labour relations system used to be respected and supported by both labour and employers as a result of genuine and proven consultative and consensual processes that had been followed for decades with respect to amending the Labour Code. As I mentioned earlier, the prosperity of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy relies on those same fair and balanced labour relations. Repealing the legislative amendments made by Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 will help restore that balance.

I sincerely hope that all of my colleagues in the House will support Bill C-4 so we can achieve this.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, both during the campaign and even just this past weekend when I was back in my riding, the residents of York Centre expressed to me that they need help, hope, and leadership from this government, to help them get back on a sound financial footing, a footing that was not left so sound by the previous Conservative government. Our government is committed to that, and that is what we are doing for Canadians.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, when we look at the number of Canadians who were investing in the TFSA and reflect back to 2013, we see that only 6.7% of eligible Canadians maximized their TFSA. We want to ensure that tax-efficient savings programs are available to benefit all Canadians.

Clearly, raising the limit to $10,000 will not make it more accessible to Canadians who are not currently participating, when the maximum is only $5,500. This is something that our government will work on and make sure that all Canadians are getting the benefit of these types of programs.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, we have been very clear that this is the first phase of a number of actions that will help those striving to reach the middle class. Our Canada child benefit will help numerous Canadians when it is introduced in July. It will certainly bring over 315,000 children out of poverty.

In addition, with regard to the comment made about jobs, a huge part of our plan is infrastructure spending, which will be happening across Canada and which I am certain will benefit many of those in the hon. member's riding as we seek to bring Canada back to economic stability.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, our government is reducing the TFSA annual contribution limit because we want to make these types of programs more accessible to all Canadians. We believe that as of 2013, only 6.7% of eligible Canadians maximized their TFSA, and that was at the $5,500 limit. Clearly, increasing the limit to $10,000 will not increase the number of those contributing.

We want to make sure that more Canadians are given the advantage of having tax-efficient savings for the future, and we believe this is the best way to achieve that.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, before I begin, I would like to mention that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Edmonton Centre.

It is my honour to rise in the House today in debate for the first time as the member of Parliament for York Centre. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of my riding for entrusting me with such an important responsibility to speak and vote on their behalf in this chamber. I would also like to thank all the volunteers and supporters, and especially my family, who have been so supportive in sharing the vision that all of us here share for a better, fairer, more prosperous Canada.

I have walked through every neighbourhood and talked to tens of thousands of residents of York Centre. People from all over Canada and around the world call my riding home. What I heard from so many people of all backgrounds was that making ends meet is becoming increasingly difficult. The cost of living is rising faster than incomes. Indeed, middle-class income growth has been and is still stagnant. Middle-class families drive our economy, and right now they are stuck in neutral. That is why I would like to take this time to express my support for the government's middle-class tax cut introduced in December and explain why it would help grow the economy.

As we embark on an agenda of economic growth and long-term prosperity, there is no doubt that we are facing considerable headwinds. Globally, we continue to experience what Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director, famously called the “new mediocre”.

In its latest economic outlook in January, the IMF expected global growth to pick up modestly to 3.4% in 2016 and 3.6% in 2017. This is down 0.2 percentage points from both 2016 and 2017 compared to its October 2015 world economic outlook. Although the recent performance of the U.S. economy is encouraging, the European and Chinese economies are still facing challenges.

Global crude oil prices remain less than half of what they were in mid-2014, reflecting softening demand and a global oil surplus. What is happening beyond our borders has real and tangible consequences for all of us. In Canada, our economic performance in the first half of 2015 was poor, mainly due to the collapse in oil prices in 2014.

Last April the government projected that the price of oil per barrel would reach $71 U.S. by the end of this year. As I speak, oil is trading at less than half that amount. We now know that growth will be lower than was expected in the last budget projections. This, of course, has important implications for our currency and our fiscal situation. The good news is that the IMF, in its latest economic outlook released on January 19, expects growth in Canada to pick up over the next two years relative to 2015. We also maintain an enviable position with a low debt-to-GDP ratio, abundant natural resources, and one of the world's most educated workforces. Keeping our debt-to-GDP ratio on a downward path throughout this government's mandate remains fundamental to our economic vision for Canada, alongside balancing the budget. To achieve this, our policies will strike a balance between fiscal responsibility and controlled investments that result in a smaller debt-to-GDP ratio, which promotes economic growth.

One of the most important components is restoring middle-class economic progress, the backbone of our economy. That is why one of the government's first orders of business was to table a ways and means motion to cut taxes for the middle class. That was the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for our economy.

The proposed middle-class tax cut and accompanying proposals would help make the tax system fairer so that all Canadians would have the opportunity to succeed and prosper.

Specifically, the bill proposes to reduce the second personal income tax rate to 20.5% from 22%, introduce a 33% personal income tax rate on individual taxable income above $200,000, return the tax-free savings account annual contribution limit to $5,500, and reinstate indexation of the TFSA and annual contribution limit.

Let me very quickly expand on these three points.

First, the personal income tax rate changes took effect on January 1. It is expected that about nine million Canadians would benefit from this measure in 2016. Individuals would see an average tax reduction of $330 each year, and couples would see an average tax reduction of $540 each year.

Second, the government is introducing a new personal income tax rate of 33% that would apply to individual taxable incomes above $200,000. This means that only Canada's very top income earners are expected to pay more taxes as a result of the proposed changes. As with other thresholds, the $200,000 tax threshold will be indexed to inflation.

Third, the government will be returning the tax-free savings account annual contribution limit to $5,500, also effective January 1 of this year. Let me reassure all members of the House that the change is not retroactive. The TFSA annual contribution limit for 2015 would remain at $10,000. Returning the TFSA annual contribution limit to $5,500 is consistent with making the tax system fairer and helping those who need it the most. When combined with other registered savings plans, a $5,500 TFSA annual contribution limit gives most individuals the opportunity to meet their ongoing savings needs in a tax-efficient manner. Indexation of the TFSA annual contribution limit would also be reinstated so that the annual limit remains at its real value over time.

Finally, before I conclude, I would like to highlight some of the other measures that are included in today's legislation.

Today's bill proposes to change the current flat top rate taxation rules applicable to trusts to use the new rate of 33%. The bill proposes to set the tax on split income to the new rate of 33%. It would amend the charitable donation tax credit to allow higher income donors to claim a 33% tax credit on the portion of donations made from income that is subject to the new 33% marginal tax rate, and it would increase the special refundable tax and the related refund rate imposed on investment income of private corporations to reflect the new proposed 33% personal income tax rate.

Going forward, the government will introduce proposals in the budget to create a new Canada child benefit payment, which would begin in July of this year. In addition to replacing the universal child care benefit, which is not tied to income, the proposed Canada child tax benefit would simplify and consolidate existing child benefits. It is also targeted to those who need it the most. By simplifying and consolidating these benefits, people will understand how to access and take advantage of them. That is why the tax credit was introduced initially.

All of these initiatives demonstrate that our sights are clearly set on the future. This legislation would strengthen the middle class by putting more money in the pockets of Canadians to save, invest, and grow our economy. More broadly, it would help grow our economy in the context of a difficult global economic climate so that all Canadians can benefit. Therefore, I encourage all members of the House to support this legislation.

[International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Every year we must continue to remember and reflect on one of history's darkest periods: the systematic, state-sponsored murder of six million Jews during the second world war.

Each year there are fewer survivors to pass on their stories and remind us of the value of human life. Their stories show the need for tolerance and compassion and the price we pay for ignoring injustice and hatred.

We bear a collective responsibility to keep these stories alive by continuing to educate others about the Holocaust and the evil that fuelled this attempt to exterminate an entire people.

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the world came together and declared, “Never again”. On this day and every day we must give special meaning to those words by actively standing up against hate, injustice, anti-Semitism and racism, and refusing to be silent in the face of genocide.

[Hanukkah, December 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, last night at sundown marked the first night of Hanukkah. ln communities across Canada and around the world, Jewish families will gather to light the menorah and celebrate the festival of lights with their loved ones.

The Hanukkah story is one of perseverance and great resilience, a story of hope and triumph against oppression. When we light the menorah, the candles help us remember the universal desire for the right to celebrate and express our own beliefs.

This celebration of triumph over adversity gives all Canadians an opportunity to reflect on the great contributions of our country's vibrant Jewish community. This serves as a reminder that our country has been made strong, not in spite of our differences but because of them.

With the festival of lights upon us, I, on behalf of my riding of York Centre, would like to wish all members of this House, and all Canadians, a season of health and happiness. Happy Hanukkah.

[Member spoke in Hebrew]