SFIS Committee News Release
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Subcommittee on Fiscal Imbalance of the Standing Committee on Finance |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Sous-comité sur le déséquilibre fiscal du comité permanent des finances |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
NEW: Cross-country hearings of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Imbalance of the Standing Committee on Finance
Ottawa, April 11, 2005 -
Today, the Subcommittee on Fiscal Imbalance of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance continued its study in Québec City, Québec, where a wide range of interested parties made presentations, including academics, and representatives of university students, organized labour, employers and agricultural producers. Representatives from the Government of Quebec and the Quebec National Assembly also made presentations to the Subcommittee, including Mr. Michel Audet, Minister of Finance, Mr. Benoit Pelletier, Minister for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Francois Legault, Critic for Economic Development and Finance for the Official Opposition (Parti Quebecois), Mr. Mario Dumont, Leader of the Action démocratique du Québec and Mr. Marc Picard, Finance Critic for the Action démocratique du Québec.
"The Subcommittee's wide range of witnesses speak to us about the fiscal imbalance from their unique perspective, whether their focus is on a horizontal or a vertical imbalance, and wheter focussed on the federal-provincial/territorial or provincial/territorial-municipal relationship," said Mr. Yvan Loubier, M.P., Chair of the Subcommittee. "That being said, a main message that we have heard across Canada continues to be voiced by our witnesses: one taxpayer, three orders of government and the need for governments to provide high-quality public services. Transparency and accountability in the provision and financing of these services will be best achieved if governments respect their constitutional jurisdiction."
Additional cross-Canada public hearings will be held in Winnipeg on 18 April and in Edmonton on 2 May.
The Subcommittee's next meeting will be in Ottawa on 13 April. On 18 February, public hearings were held in Halifax. At that time, the Hon. Mitchell Murphy, Treasurer for the Province of Prince Edward Island, was among the Subcommittee`s witnesses. The Hon. Greg Sobara, Minister of Finance for the Province of Ontario, Mr. John Tory, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and Mr. Michael Prue, Finance Critic for the New Democratic Party of Ontario appeared before the Subcommittee during its public hearings in Toronto on 11 March. The Hon. Lorne Calvert, Premier of Saskatchewan, and Mr. Brad Wall MLA and Leader of the Official Opposition (Saskatchewan Party) met with the Subcommittee in Regina on 21 March. At public hearings in Victoria on 4 April, a presentation was made by Mr. Dan Doyle, Deputy Minister of Transport for the Province of British Columbia.
A variety of other witnesses have also appeared at these public hearings. Presentations made by the Subcommittee`s witnesses are available on the Subcommittee`s website.
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