Finance committee  The measure is available to mining companies generally, so to the extent that mining activity occurs across Canada, the measure would affect most regions.

Finance committee  When we look at the measure, we would look at the impact on the mining sector overall. We would certainly be cognizant of the fact that mines may be located in remote or rural regions in Canada, but most parts of Canada do boast some mining activity.

Finance committee  The average of the cost over recent years has been in the range of $20 million per year.

Finance committee  The tax system is subject to ongoing policy review. As far back as 2006, the government indicated that it wanted to look at ways to make the tax system more neutral across sectors. We've seen certain rationalization measures in recent budgets, such as the phase-out of tax prefere

Finance committee  It's fair to say that we look at the fiscal impact and we take into consideration the economic impact across the mining sector. That would include where the incidents may lie across the country.

Finance committee  The fiscal impact is in the budget. I believe the numbers are, for the mineral exploration tax credit, starting at $10 million in 2013-14 and ramping up over the next two fiscal years to $25 million per year and then $30 million per year. Certainly in terms of mining financing a

Finance committee  Sure. The measure I just referred to, the mineral exploration tax credit, is an incentive that goes to the investors who purchase the flow-through shares of mining companies. The corporate mineral exploration and development tax credit is the measure that is being eliminated. Th

Finance committee  The measure applies equally across Canada to mining activities, so there's no differentiation in terms of the region or the type of mining activity that's affected.

Finance committee  We don't do a specific analysis that allocates a dollar amount to a particular region. We examine the measure overall, and certainly the mining industry, as you say, is in most parts of Canada. It's important to remember that. Of course, as you say, the financing activity does ta

Finance committee  It's fair to say that the phase-out will affect oil and gas and mining operations in the Atlantic provinces. What we've seen over recent years is that activity levels are very strong, very robust across Canada in these industries, including in the Atlantic region. You can look at

Finance committee  The legislative history of the AITC is fairly long. I'm not sure of the conditions when it was originally put in place.

Finance committee  The measure will apply to those active in the Atlantic region. We generally don't provide the exact number of taxpayers affected by a particular measure.

Finance committee  It would only affect the equipment that might be purchased to be used in exploration, so there would be some tangential impact on that. At the same time, other measures in place to support exploration would include the extension of the mineral exploration tax credit, for example.

Finance committee  Sure. The Atlantic investment tax credit is available for activities in the Atlantic provinces. This particular measure, the phase-out as it applies to oil and gas and mining, represents further action by the government with respect to the G-20 commitment to phase out inefficient

Finance committee  The AITC has only been available in those Atlantic provinces, and it is being removed in those provinces.