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DISSENTING OF THE BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS OPINION
SUB-COMMITTEE ON TAX EQUITY FOR CANADIAN FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

The BQ dissociates itself from the report by the Sub-Committee on Tax Equity for Canadian Families with Dependent Children, whose mandate was to study tax fairness for Canadian families with dependent children.

Lack of courage

The BQ denounces the Sub-Committee's and the report's lack of courage.

After travelling to all parts of Canada, listening to dozens of witnesses, and hearing eloquent testimony on families' situation and the assistance they would like to receive, the Sub-Committee was in a position to witness first-hand the scope and importance of the issues raised, which went well beyond simple inequities between single- and dual-earner families. In our opinion, the hearings were an ideal opportunity to initiate review of a tax system that is widely considered complicated and inequitable. However, the report gives an incomplete and sometimes biased picture of the testimony, and contains practically no meaningful requests that might lead the government to adapt its tax system. At most, the Sub-Committee has been content to note down a few vague suggestions aimed at not displeasing an omnipotent Minister, instead of responding to the expectations of the Canadian public. The public and the various witnesses will definitely be disappointed with the report.

The report does not take this opportunity to demand that the government undertake a genuine reform of its tax system, something that has long been called for but that the government is postponing.

A family policy

Where assistance to families is concerned, we must also point out that the report ignores the considerable efforts by a number of provinces to develop family assistance programs. For example, the report contains only a few lines about the Quebec government's $5 child care program, which a number of witnesses nevertheless pointed to as an exemplary pillar of genuine family policy.

Furthermore, the Committee has nothing to say about the negative effects of certain tax measures, particularly the Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED) for families using this child care program. Readers of the report would be led to believe that it is the program that is defective.

Also regarding the CCED, we criticize the Committee's conclusion: ``Whether or not this is regressive depends on the nature of the benefit.'' The Committee also claims that it heard only praise for the CCED at its hearings. In our opinion, these statements are a long way from reflecting most of the testimony heard. The BQ has long called for the regressive CCED to be simply replaced.

In the BQ's opinion, then, it cannot be clearer that the provinces, and particularly Quebec, are in the best position to realize the objectives of a family policy. In this regard, the BQ would have liked the report to demand that the federal government harmonize its tax system with provincial programs and negotiate with the various provinces to transfer the necessary funding.

BQ goes much farther

Where the Employment Insurance program and family support are concerned, the BQ considers that the proposals on the waiting period and a longer period of paid leave are steps in the right direction, but incomplete in comparison with what the BQ has called for. The BQ still wants, in addition to these features, provision for paternity leave, parental leave, and benefits of more than 70% of pay, instead of the present levels of between 55% and 60%. The report's lack of clear recommendations on these points is certainly disappointing.