A PROSPEROUS and SUSTAINABLE FUTURE for CANADA: NEEDED FEDERAL ACTIONS Report of the Standing Committee on Finance
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HOUSE OF COMMONS CANADA A PROSPEROUS AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR CANADA: NEEDED FEDERAL ACTIONS Report of the Standing Committee on Finance James Rajotte, MP Chair DECEMBER 2009 40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. 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Additional copies may be obtained from: Publishing and Depository Services Public Works and Government Services Canada Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0S5 Telephone: 613-941-5995 or 1-800-635-7943 Fax: 613-954-5779 or 1-800-565-7757 [email protected] http://publications.gc.ca Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca A PROSPEROUS AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR CANADA: NEEDED FEDERAL ACTIONS Report of the Standing Committee on Finance James Rajotte, MP Chair DECEMBER 2009 40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE CHAIR James Rajotte VICE-CHAIRS Jean-Yves Laforest Massimo Pacetti MEMBERS Kelly Block Bob Dechert Daryl Kramp Hon. John McCallum Hon. John McKay Ted Menzies Thomas J. Mulcair Daniel Paillé Mike Wallace OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Hon. Maxime Bernier Martha Hall Findlay Jean-Yves Roy Ron Cannan Pat Martin Peter Julian Linda Duncan Don Davies Shelley Glover Dennis Bevington Mike Allen Hon. Wayne Easter Nicolas Dufour Megan Anissa Leslie Christiane Gagnon Pascal-Pierre Paillé Sukh Dhaliwal Hon. Mark Eyking Meili Faille Bev Shipley Paul Calandra Roger Gaudet Dean Del Mastro Russ Hiebert iii Hon. Judy Sgro Harold Albrecht Bruce Stanton Josée Beaudin Rod Bruinooge Thierry St-Cyr Devinder Shory CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Jean-François Pagé COMMITTEE CLERK Travis Ladouceur LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service June Dewetering, Chief Mark Mahabir, Analyst John Bulmer, Analyst Maria Edwards, Intern iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE has the honour to present its SIXTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 83.1, the Committee has studied proposals in the budgetary policy of the government and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: CANADA’S ECONOMIC AND FISCAL CONTEXT ................................... 3 WITNESS VIEWS .............................................................................................. 7 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: POSITIONING PEOPLE ........................................................................... 9 I. CHILDREN AND YOUTH .................................................................................. 9 WITNESS VIEWS .............................................................................................. 9 A. Child Care .................................................................................................... 9 B. Parental Leave ........................................................................................... 10 C. Aboriginal Education and Other Issues Related to Children ....................... 10 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 11 II. STUDENTS ..................................................................................................... 12 WITNESS VIEWS ............................................................................................ 12 A. Student Funding and Support Measures .................................................... 12 B. Student Debt .............................................................................................. 12 C. Graduate Students ..................................................................................... 13 D. Aboriginal Education ................................................................................... 13 E. Other Issues ............................................................................................... 13 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 13 III. WORKERS IN AND OUT OF THE LABOUR MARKET ................................... 14 WITNESS VIEWS ............................................................................................ 14 A. Employment Insurance ............................................................................... 14 B. Job Training ................................................................................................ 15 vii C. Job Creation ............................................................................................... 16 D. Those Not in Paid Employment .................................................................. 17 E. Taxation of Employees and Families .......................................................... 18 F. Those with a Disability or Chronic Disease................................................. 19 G. Foreign Credentials, Integration and Settlement of Immigrants .................. 21 H. Other Issues ............................................................................................... 21 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 21 IV. SENIORS ......................................................................................................... 23 WITNESS VIEWS ............................................................................................ 23 A. Consultation................................................................................................ 24 B. The Old Age Security Program ................................................................... 24 C. The Canada Pension Plan .......................................................................... 25 D. Occupational Pension Plans ....................................................................... 25 E. Tax-Assisted Private Savings ..................................................................... 25 F. Plan Sponsor Insolvency ............................................................................ 26 G. Simplification, Harmonization and Actuarial Deficits ................................... 26 H. Other Issues ............................................................................................... 27 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 27 V. HEALTH ........................................................................................................... 27 WITNESS VIEWS ............................................................................................ 28 A. Prevention and Treatment of Disease and Injury ....................................... 28 B. Physical Activity .......................................................................................... 28 C. Vaccines and Immunization ........................................................................ 29 D. Health Research ......................................................................................... 29 E. Electronic Health Information ..................................................................... 30 viii F. Personal and Public Healthcare Costs ....................................................... 30 G. Health Infrastructure ................................................................................... 31 H. Palliative Care ............................................................................................ 31 I. Other Issues ............................................................................................... 32 COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 32 VI. EDUCATION .................................................................................................... 33 WITNESS VIEWS ............................................................................................ 33 A. A Post-Secondary Education Act ............................................................... 33 B. Infrastructure at Post-Secondary Institutions .............................................