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Results: 76 - 90 of 138
Mike McNaney
View Mike McNaney Profile
Mike McNaney
2020-12-03 17:19
To be mildly direct, I think within the context of Ottawa's debate, the fee and the tax are two different things, but has it increased the cost of aviation and flying in Canada? Yes, it has. Whether you wish to call it a fee or a tax, to us in the industry it's somewhat immaterial.
View Chris Bittle Profile
Lib. (ON)
Well, when you're calling it a tax, you're suggesting it's the government levying it, not an independent agency. I'm just surprised at the language used.
Mike McNaney
View Mike McNaney Profile
Mike McNaney
2020-12-03 17:20
It's an independent agency, sir, that derives its mandate from the statute of Parliament as a monopoly on the service provision of navigational services for safety purposes. Its entire mandate flows from the federal government, and the federal government has representation with Nav Canada.
Again, for the industry, honestly, whether it's a fee or a tax, Nav Canada went to the government and did not receive support in the midst of this crisis, so they brought in a 29.5% increase. That only represents a third of the budget shortfall they are projecting. That is all in the public realm through the release in the summer.
View Tamara Jansen Profile
CPC (BC)
Thank you.
I have a quick question for Mr. Mintz.
Given how much has been deferred in terms of delayed taxes, about $124 billion, which has come out of consumers' pockets, is there any room for tax increases like the NDP wealth tax or the new proposed streaming taxes? Would you recommend holding off on CPP increases started in January, given the problems of small businesses?
Jack Mintz
View Jack Mintz Profile
Jack Mintz
2020-12-03 17:39
First of all, I think that in the midst of the pandemic—and I actually have said this several times—we should not be increasing any tax at this point. I would suggest that CPP should be delayed, but also I think we should have avoided carbon tax increases and we should have avoided anything else, including—even though I support them—the GST that's going to be put on digital services. I would do that after the pandemic is finished.
With regard to your other question at the beginning, the pent-up taxes....
View Dane Lloyd Profile
CPC (AB)
Okay.
Another question is related to my colleague Mr. McCauley, who'd sent in a request for an analysis. I believe Étienne Bergeron did an analysis related to the proposal to remove minimum withdrawals for registered retirement income funds. What I found most interesting was what the analysis was lacking. Maybe it just wasn't in the purview, but I'm aware that if there were to be a change in that manner, it would lead to changes in OAS, because people could qualify for more OAS.
You're talking about the cost of the program, and it's significant, but there was no analysis on what the potential gains could be from people having a large amount of money in their savings when they die, or later on in life it being taxed at a higher marginal income tax rate. Did you do any analysis on the possible trade-off of giving seniors more flexibility over a longer period, possibly leading to the government getting more tax revenue later on in life?
Yves Giroux
View Yves Giroux Profile
Yves Giroux
2020-12-02 17:08
We limited our analysis to the first five years. If we were to provide a much longer-term analysis over time, we would find that the cost in the initial few years would probably be progressively reduced, and maybe even recouped, for exactly that reason. As people don't withdraw the current minimum, they leave bigger inheritances. At one point, somebody has to pay that tax. The government recoups the tax that doesn't get paid in the first few years of the program being implemented.
View Dane Lloyd Profile
CPC (AB)
As we saw recently in the fiscal update, the government is working to move to apply sales taxes to companies—for example, Netflix, Amazon, Airbnb and other Internet giants. It could be even more, according to your estimate. The government estimated $3.1 billion, but you estimated $4.3 billion. Why was your number significantly higher?
Yves Giroux
View Yves Giroux Profile
Yves Giroux
2020-12-02 17:10
It probably depends on the different parameters of the different assumptions. I'd have to look closely at the details of what the government is proposing versus the details of what we estimated.
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
Can you expand on what you meant by tax rating? What does that mean? That was part of my question.
C.T. (Manny) Jules
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C.T. (Manny) Jules
2020-06-05 12:15
What happens when you have tax jurisdiction.... You can see it clearly with the federal government's announcements on a daily basis. They can do that because they have the best credit rating in the country. That's why municipal governments are going to the federal government asking for programs. That's why small businesses are going to the federal government asking for programs, and indeed the provincial governments.
This goes right to the heart of the fiscal makeup of Canada. One of the problems we have as first nations is that we're not part of the fiscal makeup; we're part of the dependancy that's been brewing in our communities as a result of colonization.
When we talk about a credit rating, we've demonstrated through the First Nations Finance Authority that we can go to the international bond market using our own tax credits, using our own business acumen to get the bonds and debentures. We've been very successful at that. We've received over $900 million since 2007.
There are successes, but the basis of those successes has been jurisdiction.
Harold Calla
View Harold Calla Profile
Harold Calla
2020-06-05 12:17
Yes, I do. Thank you.
I think the fundamental challenge we face in our relationship with Canada is that we're seen as a program; we're not seen as a government. We're seen as part of a 12-year cash flow cycle. We need to get to the point where not only the departments that report to you, but Finance and Treasury Board and the PMO start to recognize us as governments that require jurisdiction, that require a seat at the fiscal table, so that we can leverage—as we've proven we can do through the First Nations Finance Authority—those secure revenue streams to support our own needs. If—
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to all our witnesses for being here. We certainly hope that your families are safe and healthy. We appreciate all of the wisdom and direction you're providing today.
I'd like to start with Mr. Bernhard. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you for raising something that I think all MPs are aware of: the total devastation of small and medium-sized media across the country. We've just seen it in my community, which has gone from four newspapers to one and a half.
Right across the country we've seen this devastation for two reasons. As you pointed out, we have the big web giants that can steal content with impunity. Also, those big web giants are being subsidized by the taxpayer. Of course, advertising that goes to the web giants is subsidized and written off on income tax.
How do we need to change things, fundamentally, going far beyond the issue of just paying for the news they use, so that the web giants, foreign companies that often pay absolutely nothing to Canada, will stop this devastation of our local news sources across the country?
Daniel Bernhard
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Daniel Bernhard
2020-06-02 16:09
Thank you very much for the question.
Before I answer, I have a very quick clarification to make. It was bugging me that my last answer could be interpreted to mean that Friends only supports increased funding for the CBC in the event that the private marketplace is not regulated, and that's not true. We advocate for both.
To answer your question, Mr. Julian, you're entirely right that taxpayers are subsidizing these companies, both through writeoffs and other activities. What we have now, and your finance committee will be particularly sensitive to this, are thousands of industries asking for help because the government had to shut down the economy for health reasons and the subsequent devastation that has arisen.
Meanwhile, there are two companies that earn almost $7 billion in Canada and pay zero taxes. They don't collect sales taxes. They put Canadian competitors out of business due to the artificial and unfair competitive advantages that are created simply by government inaction. More than that, we allow Canadian businesses to write these expenses off in contravention of section 19 of the Income Tax Act, which would suggest that foreign media expenditures not be tax deductible.
What we have here, without getting too far into the weeds, is a situation in which successive governments have decided not to act, and this has sort of crept up on them. Our first and foremost imperative is that the government sincerely declare its intention to do something about this. We have not seen that. This is not a problem that is technically challenging to solve; it requires will and courage.
When is the government going to say enough is enough? After that, we can talk about the details, and there are various options. Getting these companies to pay for the news they use is one such option Canada can pursue quickly and without direct public expense or direct public subsidy to the news industry. That's why, especially at this time, we are drawing attention to that.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
You actually go further, and I think that's certainly where most Canadians are at, which is that the web giants should actually be paying taxes. They should be good citizens in this country. These massive blank cheques they've received from successive federal governments not even requiring them to pay income taxes have undermined our local media in two ways. One is that we don't have the funding to provide the supports, and also because these companies are eliminating local media sources because of their competitive advantage. It's a beautiful situation for them. They don't have to pay taxes and people who advertise with them get to write things off their taxes. It's a perfect storm for destroying Canadians' abilities to speak to each other.
You made reference to the concentration in what's left of Canadian media. We're certainly seeing a profound right-wing bias. It's ironic that the National Post and the Toronto Sun, these right-wing sources of so-called information, are also heavily subsidized by Canadian taxpayers because advertisers can write off the kinds of advertising they do in those newspapers.
What do you think is the best path moving forward to stabilize and ensure in the long term that we have a diversity of voices in the Canadian media, not just right-wing voices, and also to stop this idea that it's always the taxpayer who has to pick up the tab for these right-wing sources and there isn't a journalistic obligation for them to show fair balance?
What is your vision of what Canadian media should look like coming out of this pandemic?
Results: 76 - 90 of 138 | Page: 6 of 10

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