Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Banking, Trade and Commerce

Issue 19 - Ninth Report of the Committee

Thursday, September 21, 2000

The Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce has the honour to present its

NINTH REPORT

Your Committee, to which was referred the Bill C-24, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act, a related Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Budget Implementation Act, 1997, the Budget Implementation Act, 1998, the Budget Implementation Act, 1999, the Canada Pension Plan, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff, the Employment Insurance Act, the Excise Act, the Income Tax Act, the Tax Court of Canada Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act, has examined the said Bill in obedience to its Order of Reference dated Wednesday, June 28, 2000, and now reports the same without amendment but with the following observations:

The Committee would like to record two particular concerns that have been expressed regarding Bill C-24. The first concerns the timeliness of legislation brought forward before Parliament. This Bill contains a number of "housekeeping" measures that have the undesirable effect of retroactively amending legislation. Improved timeliness in the future would reduce the need for such retroactivity.

The Committee notes that medicine has evolved considerably in the last 30 or 40 years. Many relatively new medical practices are not accounted for by traditional classifications of medical care. The Committee believes that, in light of new medical developments here and in foreign jurisdictions, the government should reconsider the underlying principles that determine what constitute medical care exempted from the GST.

Respectfully submitted,

E. LEO KOLBER

Chair