THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL FINANCE

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Tuesday, May 17, 2022
(14)

[English]

Pursuant to the order of the Senate of May 5, 2022, the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met this day in room W110, 1 Wellington Street, and with videoconference, at 9:30 a.m. ET, the chair, the Honourable Percy Mockler, presiding.

Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Dagenais, Marshall and Pate (3).

Members of the committee present by videoconference: The Honourable Senators Boehm, Duncan, Forest, Gerba, Gignac, Loffreda, Mockler and Richards (8).

Participating in the meeting: Kalina Waltos, Procedural Clerk and Annie Trudel, Administrative Assistant, Committees Directorate; Shaowei Pu and Michaël Lambert-Racine, analysts, Library of Parliament.

Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, the committee began its consideration of Bill C-8, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update tabled in Parliament on December 14, 2021 and other measures.

WITNESSES (by videoconference):

Department of Finance Canada:

Trevor McGowan, Director General, Tax Legislation Division;

Lindsay Gwyer, Director General, Legislation, Tax Legislation Division;

Max Baylor, Director General, Business Income Tax Division;

Jenna Robbins, Senior Director, Strategic Planning and Policy;

Pierre Leblanc, Director General, Personal Income Tax Division;

Phil King, Director General, Sales Tax Division;

Mark Maxson, Director, Employment and Education;

Pierre Mercille, Director General, Sales Tax Division;

Amanda Riddell, Director, Real Property and Financial Institutions;

Robert Ives, Senior Advisor, Sales Tax Division;

Ling Wang, Senior Director, Financial Programs and Strategy;

Galen Countryman, Director General, Federal-Provincial Relations Division.

Employment and Social Development Canada:

Mona Nandy, Acting Director General, Employment Insurance Policy, Skills and Employment Branch;

Sylvain Noël, Manager, Policy Analysis and Initiatives, Employment Insurance Policy, Skills and Employment Branch;

Deanne Field, Executive Director, Employment Insurance Benefits Processing, Benefits and Integrated Services Branch, Service Canada.

Health Canada:

Cameron MacDonald, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy, Integration and Data, COVID-19 Testing Secretariat;

Serena Francis, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer.

Public Health Agency of Canada:

Martin Joyal, Director General, Strategic Policy, Planning and Coordination, COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Task Force;

Marie-Élise Maurice, Director, COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out Policy, COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Task Force.

Lindsay Gwyer, Pierre Mercille, Ling Wang, Galen Countryman, Martin Joyal, Cameron MacDonald and Mona Nandy each made a statement and, together with Serena Francis, Phil King, Pierre LeBlanc and Robert Ives, answered questions.

At 11:16 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.

ATTEST:

Mireille K. Aubé

Clerk of the Committee