Finance committee  The communiqué confirmed it yesterday. It does clarify that, certainly.

Finance committee  Bill C‑208 has been in force since June 29. This does not change and the news releases do not affect it. The June 30 news release indicated the government's intention to change the date of coming into force by means of a future bill. The July 19 news release confirms that this

Finance committee  Yes, it has been in effect since June 29.

Finance committee  My view is that the bill was in force. The bill has been in force since June 29. What the communiqué did on June 30 was indicate that the government intended to introduce future legislation to change that coming into force retroactively.

Finance committee  Certainly, once the bill is in force, it applies until it's amended by Parliament.

Finance committee  Parliament has the ability to do as it has done, which is to act as the grand inquest of the nation and inquire into matters by the work of committees such as this committee, ask questions, obtain clarifications and, if need be, obtain course corrections.

Finance committee  These are questions that ultimately can end up before the courts. If there is a dispute with respect to what was done, then the courts will look to the applicable law and precedents and will make their decision.

Finance committee  I don't have statistics of that nature. Bills vary in their scope and in their complexity. The parliamentary calendar.... Of course, we've been in the pandemic situation with a virtual Parliament, so it's been unusual times all around.

Finance committee  If there is an election, there is a dissolution of the House, so there's no ability for the House to consider legislation during that time.

Finance committee  The House will consider legislation according to the composition of its members at any given time. Certainly if the composition of the House changes, then that can have impacts.

Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  This is something we had not seen before. As I noted, the lack of a date in a bill does not prevent it from coming into force.

Finance committee  The practice is that the government can announce tax measures that it will introduce later and, in some cases, begin to implement them at that time. However, the measures remain subject to final approval by Parliament, which will confirm that they are valid.

Finance committee  Parliament, not the government, can amend the bill. The government can indicate that it intends to introduce legislation later and that it has begun to implement it, to an extent. However, if it does so, it is still subject to Parliament's approval and decision to pass the legisl

Finance committee  It is up to the courts to determine whether state authorities or the public have complied with the legislation as it exists. If a concern to that effect were to be raised before the courts, the courts would have to address that issue.