THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL FINANCE
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Wednesday, June 14, 2023
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met with videoconference this day at 6:45 p.m. [ET] to study Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.
Senator Percy Mockler (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Welcome to all the senators and all the Canadians who are watching us on sencanada.ca.
[English]
My name is Percy Mockler. I am a senator from New Brunswick and Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance.
Honourable senators, I ask each of you to introduce yourselves, please, for the record.
[Translation]
Senator Forest: Welcome, everyone. Éric Forest, the Gulf senatorial division, Quebec.
Senator Gignac: Clément Gignac from Quebec.
Senator Galvez: Rosa Galvez, an independent senator from Quebec.
Senator Moncion: Lucie Moncion from Ontario.
[English]
Senator Shugart: Ian Shugart of Ontario.
Senator Loffreda: Good evening, everybody. Senator Tony Loffreda from Montreal, Quebec.
Senator M. Deacon: Hello. I’m Marty Deacon, Ontario.
Senator Pate: Kim Pate, and I live here in the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg.
Senator Smith: Larry Smith, Quebec.
Senator Marshall: Elizabeth Marshall, Newfoundland and Labrador.
[Translation]
Senator Gold: Marc Gold from Quebec.
Senator Dagenais: Jean-Guy Dagenais, senatorial division of Victoria, Quebec.
The Chair: Thank you, honourable senators. Today, we are considering Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.
[English]
Before we proceed further, honourable senators, I wanted to share with you some important statistics. This committee held eight meetings on the subject matter of Bill C-47 for a total of 13 hours and 49 minutes, and it heard from 74 witnesses.
Honourable senators, is it agreed that the committee proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023? Honourable senators, is it agreed or not?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you.
Honourable senators, shall the title stand postponed? Agreed or not?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you.
Honourable senators, shall clause 1, which contains the short title, stand postponed?
Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: On division. Thank you.
Honourable senators, we all know that this is a large bill with nearly 700 clauses. With the limited time that we have to complete our clause-by-clause consideration today, I will ask: Is it agreed, with leave, that the clauses be grouped according to the four parts of the bill as described in the Table of Provisions of Bill C-47?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Therefore, we will move to Part 1, Amendments to the Income Tax Act and Other Legislation, clauses 2 to 113 on pages 1 to 101. Shall Part 1, entitled Amendments to the Income Tax Act and Other Legislation, which contains clauses 2 to 113, carry, honourable senators?
Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: On division. Thank you, honourable senators.
Now, honourable senators, we will move on to Part 2, “GST/HST Measures.” Shall Part 2, entitled, “GST/HST Measures,” which contains clauses 114 to 123, pages 101 to 112, carry, honourable senators?
Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: On division. Are there any senators that would like to comment on that part? Therefore, it is carried, on division.
Part 3, honourable senators, the Air Travellers Security Charge Act, clauses 124 to 127, pages 113 to 115. Shall Part 3, entitled Amendments to the Excise Act, the Excise Act, 2001 and the Air Travellers Security Charge Act, which contains clauses 124 to 127, carry?
Some Hon. Senators: Carried.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: On division. Thank you, honourable senators.
Shall Part 4, entitled Various Measures, which contains clauses 128 to 681, pages 116 to 402, carry, honourable senators?
Some Hon. Senators: Carried.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: Carried, on division.
Honourable senators, now we will move on to the next section of our meeting this evening. Shall the schedule carry, honourable senators?
Some Hon. Senators: Carried.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: Carried, on division.
Honourable senators, shall clause 1, which contains the short title, carry?
Some Hon. Senators: Carried.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: On division, thank you.
Honourable senators, shall the bill carry?
Some Hon. Senators: Carried.
Some Hon. Senators: On division.
The Chair: Adopted, on division.
Honourable senators, in considering observations, would it be proper that we go in camera for that?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Agreed. Thank you, honourable senators. We will suspend for one minute to go in camera.
(The committee continued in camera.)