FINA Committee Meeting

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 92

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

The Standing Committee on Finance met at 3:35 p.m. this day, in Room 269, West Block, the Chair, Sue Barnes, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Sue Barnes, Carolyn Bennett, Scott Brison, Nick Discepola, Albina Guarnieri, Richard Harris, Rahim Jaffer, Sophia Leung, Yvan Loubier, Maria Minna, Lorne Nystrom, Pauline Picard, Gary Pillitteri, Bryon Wilfert.

Acting Members present: Larry Bagnell for Roy Cullen, Tony Valeri for Shawn Murphy, Jason Kenney for Charlie Penson, Jason Kenney for Grant McNally, Gary Lunn for Grant McNally.

In attendance: From the Research Branch of the Library of Parliament: June Dewetering, Acting Principal, Blayne Haggart and Marc-André Pigeon, Research Officers.

Witnesses: From the Department of Finance: Patricia Malone, Chief, Excise Act Review, Sales Tax Division, Tax Policy Branch; Brian Willis, Senior Chief, Excise Tax, Sales Tax Division, Tax Policy Branch; Ron Brazeau, Senior Tax Policy Officer, Excise Tax Review, Sales Tax Division, Tax Policy Branch.

Pursuant to its Order of Reference of Tuesday, April 9, 2002, the Committee began clause by clause consideration of Bill C-47, An Act respecting the taxation of spirits, wine and tobacco and the treatment of ships' stores (See Minutes of Proceedings, Thursday, April 11, 2002, Meeting No. 86).

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of Clause 1 was postponed.

Clause 2 was allowed to stand.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 3 to 52 inclusive, carried on division.

After debate, Clause 53 carried on division.

On Clause 54,

Scott Brison moved, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 54, be amended by replacing lines 32 and 33 on page 32 with the following:

“for their personal use.”

After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived by a show of hands.

YEAS: 3;                     NAYS: 8

Clause 54 carried on division.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 55 to 72 inclusive carried on division.

On Clause 73,

Yvan Loubier moved, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 73, be amended by replacing line 40 on page 37 with the following:

“of 99.5% or more by volume or to such greater extent as is approved by the Minister; ”

By unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 73 to 123 inclusive carried on division.

By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 2

On Clause 2,

Yvan Loubier proposed to move, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing line 21 on page 1 with the following:

“”alcohol”

« alcool »

“alcohol” means spirits, wine and beer.”

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The interpretation clause of a bill is not the place to propose a substantive amendment to a bill.  In addition, an amendment to the interpretation clause of a bill that was referred to a Committee after second reading must always relate to the bill and not go beyond the scope of or be contrary to the principle of the bill.

Your amendment is therefore out of order.

Clause 2 carried on division.

Jason Kenney proposed to move, --That Bill C-47 be amended by adding after line 13 on page 52 the following new clause:

"123.1 Despite any other provision of this Act, if a brewery produces a total of 300 000 hectolitres of beer or less in Canada in a year, only 40% of the duty that would otherwise be applicable shall be imposed in respect of the first 75 000 hectolitres of beer produced by that brewery in Canada in the following year. ”

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The proposed amendment would reduce the duty that would otherwise be applicable to the first 75 000 hectolitres of beer produced, provided the brewery produced less than 300 000 hectolitres of beer annually.

The imposition of a duty on beer is governed by section 170, and relevant schedule, of the Excise Act and are not included in Bill C-47, An Act respecting the taxation of spirits, wine and tobacco and the treatment of ships’ stores.

As Speaker Fraser pointed out in his ruling of April 28, 1992:

"When a bill is referred to a standing or legislative committee of the House, that committee is only empowered to adopt, amend or negative the clauses found in that piece of legislation and to report the bill to the House with or without amendments.  The committee is restricted in its examination in a number of ways.  It cannot infringe on the financial initiative of the Crown, it cannot go beyond the scope of the bill as passed at second reading, and it cannot reach back to the parent act to make further amendments not contemplated in the bill no matter how tempting this may be."  (Selected Decisions of Speaker John A. Fraser, Volume I, p. 333)

Marleau & Montpetit state on page 654 of the House of Commons

Procedure & Practice that “ an amendment is inadmissible if it amends a statute that is not before the Committee or a section of the parent Act unless it is being specifically amended by a clause of the bill.”

            As Speaker Lamoureux pointed out in his ruling on July 20, 1973 concerning Bill C-2, An Act to amend the Criminal Code thereby reinstating the trial period on restricted capital punishment:

"…Because the amendment or motion refers generally to the subject (….) does not make it automatically acceptable.  If the amendment seeks not a modification to the Bill before the House but, rather a change in the statute which the Bill seeks to amend, there is no alternative but to find it unacceptable".  (Selected Decisions of Speaker Lamoureux, p. 488)

I must therefore rule your amendment out of order.

Whereupon Yvan Loubier appealed the decision of the Chair.

And the question being put by the Chair, the Chair declared the decision sustained on the following division:

YEAS

Larry Bagnell

Carolyn Bennett

Nick Discepola

Albina Guarnieri

Sophia Leung

Maria Minna

Shawn Murphy

Gary Pillitteri

Bryon Wilfert – 9

NAYS

Scott Brison

Richard Harris

Rahim Jaffer

Jason Kenney

Yvan Loubier

Lorne Nystrom

Charlie Penson

Pauline Picard -- 8

After debate, Clause 124 carried.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 125 to 134 inclusive, carried.

On Clause 135,

Pauline Picard moved, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 135, be amended by replacing lines 26 to 31 on page 55 with the following:

“of the licensee if the production of the licensee during the 12 preceding fiscal months did not exceed 150,000 litres.”

After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived by a show of hands.

YEAS: 7                      NAYS: 8

Clause 135 carried on division.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 136 to 329 inclusive carried on division.

On Clause 330,

Bryon Wilfert moved, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 330, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 30 on page 181 with the following:

la vente de marchandises, en franchise de certains

After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to.

Clause 330, as amended, carried.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 331 to 413 inclusive carried on division.

On Clause 414,

Scott Brison moved, --That Bill C-47, in Clause 414, be amended by replacing line 22 on page 224 with the following:

“414. (1) Subsection 23.11(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

23.11 (1) There shall be imposed, levied and collected, in addition to any other duty or tax payable under this Act or any other Act or law, an excise tax, at the applicable rate set out in subsection (2), in respect of tobacco products that are manufactured or produced in Canada and are delivered to a bonded warehouse, licensed as such under the Customs Tariff.

(2) Paragraphs 23.11(2)(a) to (c) of the”

After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived by a show of hands.

YEAS: 6                      NAYS: 9

Clause 414 carried on division.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 415 to 433 inclusive carried on division.

By unanimous consent, Schedules I to VII inclusive, carried on division.

Clause 1 carried on division.

The Title carried on division.

The Bill, as amended, carried on division.

ORDERED, -- That the Chair report the Bill to the House as soon as possible.

The Committee proceeded to elect a vice-chair.

Charlie Penson moved, --That Richard Harris be elected as Vice-Chair of the Committee.

The question being put on the motion, it was agreed to.

At 5:00 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Marc Toupin

Clerk of the Committee