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FINA Committee Report

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On 7 June 2013, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance invited Canadians to share their priorities for the 2014 federal budget. As they do every year, Canadian individuals, businesses, trade associations, advocacy organizations, and others provided a wide range of views.

In launching the pre-budget consultations for 2013, the Committee was mindful of domestic and international realities and challenges facing individuals, businesses, communities, governments and nations at this time. Demographic change, the continuing recovery from the global financial and economic crisis, ongoing global competition and the desire to help those who require assistance are a few of these considerations.

In this context, the Committee selected the following six topics and invited witnesses to provide their proposals for change:

  • focusing on fiscal sustainability and economic growth;
  • helping vulnerable Canadians;
  • supporting research and innovation;
  • ensuring prosperous and secure rural and urban communities;
  • improving government efficiency; and
  • maximizing employment opportunities for Canadians.

In some sense, focusing on fiscal sustainability and economic growth, and improving government efficiency, enable the federal government to attain its goals in the other areas: helping residents who are vulnerable, supporting the research and innovation that will lead to competitiveness and higher productivity, ensuring prosperous and secure rural and urban communities for the benefit of individuals and businesses, and establishing an environment in which employment opportunities can be maximized.

Chapters Two through Seven — which focus on the six topics identified above — summarize the proposals that were made on these topics by the witnesses who were invited to appear before the Committee and present the Committee’s recommendations. The individuals and organizations submitting their input online through the Committee’s website are listed in Appendix A according to the categories selected by them in relation to their proposals; each submitter was able to provide up to three proposals.