Finance committee  Yes, we do, and we spoke with Imagine Canada in developing that. We're part of the committee that put together that recommendation so we absolutely support it.

Finance committee  We arrived at the figure based on our experience of delivering national programs and promoting and strengthening volunteerism over the last 30 years. We want to focus the money on two specific areas. One is social marketing and promoting volunteerism and building on the core valu

Finance committee  I don't have that data, but Canada has one of the strongest and broadest and most vibrant voluntary sectors in the world. The Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating is among the most comprehensive data gathered on giving and volunteering habits that exist in the

Finance committee  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. Volunteer Canada is the national leader on volunteerism. We are devoted to building the capacity of voluntary organizations, to involving volunteers, and to promoting and fostering volunteerism in all its forms. We

Finance committee  Yes, I would agree. I certainly do think this is a good-will bill. I think it's something fairly small that could have a huge impact and demonstrate, in a very big way, this government's support for volunteers.

Finance committee  I think all volunteer work is essential to our communities, and if we had a volunteer strike for even a single day, our communities would be at risk. We couldn't police this country without volunteers. We wouldn't have minor league sports. We wouldn't have elected officials. So

Finance committee  No, we did not.

Finance committee  Well, I wouldn't have any concrete suggestions, but of course I think anything that recognizes the value and contribution of volunteers of this country, outside of simply saying that you recognize the value and contribution of volunteers in this country, would be helpful in recog

Finance committee  I would certainly say there is a strong rationale for this tax credit, given the level of training, the on-call aspect of these volunteers, and the inherent risk they put themselves under in the execution of their volunteer duties, which certainly distinguish them from volunteers

Finance committee  I hope not. I think that's what I said initially. I think there are some very concerning implications around starting to articulate volunteerism in an economic sense. I would never want this to be seen as the tip of the pyramid to have that implemented across the sector. I think

Finance committee  I don't have the statistics at hand, but the statistic floating around firefighting services is that approximately 85% of firefighting services in this country are delivered by volunteers. It varies from province to province, but I believe that's the average across the country.

Finance committee  We're a national organization that promotes and works to strengthen volunteerism in the broadest sense. We work in partnership with voluntary organizations and provide them with tools and resources that help them to effectively engage their volunteers. We wouldn't work specifical

Finance committee  We would not directly service them, but organizations that provide those services would be members of Volunteer Canada, or could be. At the community level there are volunteer centres--Volunteer Ottawa here in Ottawa, for example--that also work to promote and strengthen voluntee

Finance committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, members of the Standing Committee on Finance, I feel privileged to be invited here today. This is important work that you are undertaking, and it's notable that you have recognized the critical importance of emergency services volunteers, firefig