Mr. Speaker:
In the interests of time today, I will be keeping my remarks very brief. Members
in this Chamber are familiar with Bill C-212. You passed this Bill unanimously
at all stages and sent it on to the other place. I thank you for that. It is
now back in the House of Commons to consider amendments made in the other place.
We can pass this Bill into law today with your support.
I will comment briefly on the following -
The intent of Bill C-212 is to bring greater transparency and accountability
and parliamentary oversight to federal government departments and agencies when
they attempt to recover costs through user fees.
User fees take many different forms and are meant to defray some or all of the
costs of a service provided by government presumably in the public interest,
but which also provides a specific service to the client (for example license
fees, registrations, etc.)
Comme j'ai deja dit, j'appuie l'objectif du gouvernement de recouvrer les couts qu'il engage en imposant des frais aux utilisateurs de biens individuels et de services specialises. Le projet de loi que j'ai presente aborde les questions suivantes :
Let me now provide this House with an overview of the amendments made in the other place - amendments that I support and amendments that the President of the Treasury Board supports. These amendments improve on the language in the Bill, and provide greater clarity on the intent and operation of the Bill. I should point out that these amendments do not alter the principles or main themes and thrusts of the Bill that were passed in this House a short time ago.
The first amendment includes a role for the Senate - one that will mirror the process for user fees that is enunciated in Bill C-212 for the House of Commons. I believe this will enhance the parliamentary oversight over user fees.
The second amendment makes it clear that Bill C-212 does not apply to fees charged by one regulating authority to another.
The aim of the third amendment is to strengthen wording used in the original Bill. It describes more fully how the independent dispute resolution process works through an independent advisory panel. Also, comparisons of fees with "major trading partners" will be limited to those of "relevant trading partners."
Amendment 4 can be characterized as consequential. Because of an earlier change to the definition of "user fees" this amendment is required to maintain consistency.
L'objectif du l'amenment numero cinq c'est d'apporter une clarification concernant la periode a utiliser pour comparer le rendement d'un organisme de reglementation et la periode a laquelle s'appliquerait la reduction des frais, si le rendement est inferieur aux normes (selon la definition du projet de loi). (The aim of Amendment 5 is to provide clarification on the period of time that should be used to compare the performance of a regulating authority and the period of time during which a fee reduction would become effective should performance standards not be met (As defined in the Bill)).
Amendment 6 deals with the following. The original language in the Bill provided for a delay of forty (40) sitting days before a proposal is deemed to be approved if the Committee fails to report its recommendation to the House of Commons. This delay could translate into as much as eighty (80) calendar days. This amendment takes into account workload and practices in the House. Twenty (20) sitting days should give enough time for the committee to provide the House with a report, where it deems it necessary or desirable to do so. This amendment changes the review period to twenty sitting days.
Amendment 7 is a consequential amendment relating to previous changes. Clause 7 is no longer necessary as it is made redundant by previous amendments.
The aim of amendment 8 is to allow for the President of the Treasury Board to conduct a review of this legislation in three years time. This is most appropriate in my view.
Amendment 9 is a consequential amendment required as a result of previous changes.
Amendment 10 is a consequential amendment, as clause ten is no longer required.
As I said earlier, I support all these amendments and I thank the members of the National Finance Committee and all the members in the other place for their important contribution to this Bill.
Many other thanks are in order.
I would like to thank all those who have participated to date
in the debate on Bill C-212. The debate on this topic has been very constructive
and productive.
I would also like to thank the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee
on Finance for the work they did on this bill, and all the witnesses who appeared
to speak to this legislation. I would like to thank the President of the Treasury
Board, the Hon. Member for Winnipeg South, for all his advice and support -
and for encouraging and supporting the initiative of a private member. It has
been like a 'breath of fresh air"! Thanks also to the Minister's staff.
Furthermore, I also want to thank the clerk of the Standing Committee
on Finance and the research staff of the Committee. Thank you to my staff as
well.
I would also like to thank the Business Coalition on Cost Recovery for their
advice and support over the years.
Colleagues in the House of Commons - we have an historic opportunity today to
pass this user fee legislation into law - bringing many years of hard work to
a successful conclusion.
Some of you in the House today may wish to speak again or for the first time
on Bill C-212. This is quite understandable and cannot be denied.
If, however, the debate on this Bill would collapse today we could have user
fee legislation passed into law today or next week if a vote was deferred.
Time is not on our side. Should parliament be dissolved to make way for a general
election, Bill C-212 will disappear into legislative history - as an unfinished
Bill and perhaps a worthy effort. I am sure that you will agree with me that
this is not good enough for us in this Chamber - or for all Canadians.
Should the debate not be terminated today, Bill C-212 will fall to the bottom
of the order paper and come forward, hopefully before parliament dissolves,
for a final hour and vote. There may not be sufficient time to accomplish this.
I urge you to end the debate on this Bill today and vote this Bill into law.
You will be able to claim this victory. The alternative is to deal with user
fees through government policies that have not worked in the past
I urge you to embrace the legislative approach proposed by Bill C-212 - and
I thank you.
The choice is a clear one. I urge you to vote for Bill C-212 and support accountability,
transparency and the legitimate role of members of Parliament.
I thank you. Merci.