Scott Brison

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 55

That Bill C-36, in Clause 40, be amended by replacing lines 1 to 5 on page 18 with the following:

“40. (1) On the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, the Governor in Council shall appoint an auditor for the Foundation for the fiscal year, and the members shall fix, or authorize the Board to fix, the auditor's remuneration.”

Motion No. 56

That Bill C-36, in Clause 40, be amended by adding after line 24 on page 18 the following:

“(c) the Auditor General of Canada.”

Motion No. 57

That Bill C-36, in Clause 40, be amended by replacing lines 29 to 31 on page 18 with the following:

“(4) On the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, the Governor in Council may remove an auditor from office.”

Motion No. 58

That Bill C-36, in Clause 40, be amended by replacing lines 38 to 44 on page 18 with the following:

“(6) On the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, the Governor in Council shall appoint an auditor to fill any vacancy in the office of the auditor.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 50

That Bill C-36, in Clause 38, be amended by replacing lines 18 to 25 on page 17 with the following:

“38. Not later than six months after the end of each fiscal year, in the case of a report referred to in section 36, and not later than six months after the report referred to in section 37 has been made, the reports shall be made public and a copy of them shall be sent to the Ministers and to the provincial ministers. The Minister of Human”

Motion No. 51

That Bill C-36, in Clause 38, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 17 the following:

“(3) The reports said before each House of Parliament under subsection (2) stand permanently referred to the standing committee of the House of Commons that normally considers matters relating to human resources development and the standing committee of the Senate that normally considers social affairs.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 48

That Bill C-36, in Clause 37, be amended by replacing lines 14 to 17 on page 17 with the following:

“37. Every five years after the coming into force of this Act, the Foundation shall cause a review and report to be made by a person who is independent of the Foundation of its activities and organization.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 45

That Bill C-36, in Clause 36, be amended

(a) by replacing line 11 on page 17 with the following:

“year and next year;”

(b) by adding after line 13 on page 17 the following:

“(e) the names of the five highest paid employees and officers of the Foundation appointed under section 16 and the salary paid by the Foundation to each of these persons;

(f) a summary of all individuals, and businesses that benefitted from contracts for professional services with the Foundation totalling more than $100,000;

(g) any written statement referred to in subsection 168(7) of the Canada Business Corporations Act that has been requested and received by a person described in that subsection, from an auditor described in that subsection;

(h) an executive summary of the findings of any internal audit that has been carried out at the request of the Board; and

(i) such other information as may, by regulation, be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 19

That Bill C-36, in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 32 on page 8 the following:

“(4.1) The Foundation shall have at least one member representing public post- secondary educational institutions and at least one member representing private post-secondary educational institutions.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 16

That Bill C-36, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 36 to 39 on page 7 with the following:

“(a) the Board is knowledgeable about post-secondary education and learning in Canada, the needs of the Canadian economy and the management of investments; and”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 12

That Bill C-36, in Clause 8, be amended by replacing line 7 on page 5 with the following:

“student attending an eligible institution full-time,”

Motion No. 13

That Bill C-36, in Clause 8, be amended by adding after line 17 on page 5 the following:

“(2.1) The Board shall consist of at least one person representing public post- secondary educational institutions and at least one person representing private post-secondary educational institutions.”

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, May 13th, 1998]

moved:

Motion No. 2

That Bill C-36, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 16 to 24 on page 1 with the following:

““eligible institution” means

(a) a public post-secondary educational institution in Canada that grants degrees, certificates or diplomas; or

(b) a private post-secondary educational institution in Canada that grants degrees, certificates or diplomas in respect of a program of studies that has been designated by a law of the province in which the institution is located, as a program whose students are eligible to receive a scholarship granted by the government of that province.”

[Seniors, May 13th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-36, the budget implementation act, nickels and dimes Canada's poor seniors.

No one blinked an eye when the budget promised to “improve the way in which the guaranteed income supplement operates”. This was until people realized that the finance minister's idea of improvement is to cut benefits to seniors.

Take for instance the effects Bill C-36 will have on seniors who are working to earn extra money. These seniors will now be subject to a stiffer clawback on the benefits they receive. If the clawback that already exists was not enough, the government proposes to take up to $250 more from the poorest senior citizens in Canada.

Some of these senior citizens are working in fast food restaurants. They were told by this government that they would get a full meal deal. Instead, this finance minister is giving them the drive through. It is unfortunate and it is wrong.

The finance minister's improvements nickel and dime Canada's poorest seniors. That is why I have sent a letter to all members of the House seeking their support for amendments that I am proposing to Bill C-36 which will provide for equitable treatment in Canada.

[Finance, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, last week the auditor general released his latest report on the government's financial statements and the finance minister and this government received a failing grade from the auditor general for the third year in a row.

Why? Because for the last three years the finance minister has cooked the books by retroactively allocating funds from the previous fiscal year to pay for upcoming spending programs. First came the HST buyout, then the innovation foundation and now the millennium scholarship foundation.

What is the reason for this shoddy bookkeeping? To keep Canadians from seeing a surplus.

The fact is the finance minister is afraid to show Canadians a surplus and afraid to show his own government members a surplus. He is conveniently delaying this debate of what to do with the surplus when he should be giving Canadians what they deserve now, fair compensation for all hepatitis C victims and a millennium tax break now, in 1998.