Human Resources committee  The challenge of marginal effective tax rates are implicit in any income support program. I think the question that policy-makers have to confront is twofold. First, is the net benefit of those income support programs worth the potential cost of the marginal effective tax rate

Human Resources committee  I'll answer that question as briefly as I can, cognizant of the time. Before I directly address it, I think the government's review of the federal tax code that has taken place over the last year is not just an opportunity to decide which tax expenditures ought to be eliminated

Human Resources committee  I'm going to speak in English, I apologize. My French isn't as strong as your English. The experience of indigenous people in urban centres is a subject that ought to be a matter of concern for the federal government and this committee. As I said, any federal poverty reduction s

Human Resources committee  I'm grateful for the opportunity, thank you. This is a subject that has, I think, become a matter of growing political consensus, similar to many of the things that I talked about earlier. President Obama's former chair of the council of economic advisers, Jason Furman, has wri

Human Resources committee  Principally, it's a supply issue. For instance, in Toronto we've had detached home construction at a 36-year low and in Vancouver, similarly, the lowest new detached home construction in a quarter century.

Human Resources committee  Principally, it's a matter of government policy, primarily when it comes to zoning or to building and construction rules.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the committee for inviting me to participate. I want to congratulate all members for the study's comprehensive terms of reference. Implicit is a recognition that there's no silver bullet, that poverty's underlying causes are multi-faceted and hi

Finance committee  Yes, sir, and I'd go so far as to say that I would attach to that some type of regime that allows for this committee and parliamentarians more generally to hold the government accountable to that plan.

Finance committee  It's a great question. The short answer is yes. I think few would argue that the 2008-09 circumstances justified, if not a stimulus, at minimum not cutting spending to try to balance the budget in the context of dramatically declining revenues. The real question is, under what c

Finance committee  I'm sorry if I have left the impression that I am quarrelling with the government's having a political mandate to run deficits. I don't quarrel with that.

Finance committee  My point is that there is now some onus on the government to send a signal to Canadians and the market about its long-term fiscal plan. That's all I'm saying. More important, the more useful thing would be to have a serious policy discussion—as I said, I think this committee is

Finance committee  I would agree with what my colleague says, but I'd also say that about a third of new incremental spending set out in last year's budget was dedicated to infrastructure—however one defines it—and that means the other two-thirds were non-infrastructure related. I don't think there

Finance committee  Thank you. I think that's right. Mr. Morneau's mandate letter talked about a fiscal anchor, and of course we now have a fiscal position that lacks the fiscal anchor. I think a preoccupation on timelines is probably unnecessary, but a clear path forward, I think, is required

Finance committee  I'll be brief. My colleague referred to restrictions on supply in the hottest markets, and I think we can't have a discussion about housing affordability without talking about the matter of supply. In my remarks I talked about trade-offs. I don't mean to sound like an economis

Finance committee  Thank you, sir. I appreciate the invitation to participate in the pre-budget consultations. I want to use my time primarily to focus on general fiscal policy matters, and to the extent that there is time left to briefly set out a specific idea to support economic growth and oppo