Date: 2023_04_26
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Darren Fisher: it is always an honour to rise on behalf of the good people of Dartmouth--Cole Harbour and the folks in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia. I wish my friend from the Green Party was here in the House today, as it is always lovely to see her. I am pleased to take part in tonight's debate. When my hon. colleague posed her initial question, she asked about the possibility of increasing the windfall tax in Canada following an announcement made by President Biden. As the Deputy Prime Minister rightly noted, our government has already introduced a 2% share buyback tax, which is double the current U.S. level. We introduced this tax because we absolutely believe it is appropriate for our tax system to encourage Canadian companies to invest in Canada and invest in Canada's workers and our economy. It does not stop there. Our government has been and remains committed to making sure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. We know that the programs and services Canadians rely on are dependent on a robust national tax base. That is why we have moved forward with several measures since 2015 to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. Since 2015, we have taken actions to close loopholes, crack down on tax avoidance and ensure that the wealthiest pay their fair share. For example, we understand that through the significant use of deductions, credits and other tax preferences, some of the wealthiest Canadians pay little to no personal income tax in a given year. That is why we are proposing, in budget 2023, legislative amendments to raise the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, rate from 15% to 20.5% and to further limit the excessive use of tax preferences. These amendments would generate an estimated $3 billion in revenue over five years, beginning in the 2024 taxation year. Another proposed reform is that the basic AMT exemption would increase more than fourfold, from $40,000 to $173,000, significantly increasing the income level necessary to pay the AMT. This would result in tax cuts for tens of thousands of middle-class Canadians, while the AMT would more precisely target the very wealthy. Under these reforms, more than 99% of the AMT paid by individual Canadians would be paid by those who earn more than $300,000 per year, and about 80% of the AMT paid would be by those who earn more than $1 million per year. Budget 2022 announced a permanent increase of the corporate income tax by 1.5% on the largest, most profitable banks and insurance companies. It also announced the Canada recovery dividend of 15% on banks and insurance companies to help support Canada's broader recovery. In addition, our government is committed to phasing out or rationalizing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that give fossil fuels an unfair advantage over much cleaner solutions. We have accelerated the previous timeline for doing so from 2025 to this year. In budget 2022, the government also committed to eliminating the flow-through share regime for fossil fuel activities. This is being done by no longer allowing expenditures related to oil, gas and coal exploration and development to be renounced to flow-through share investors for flow-through share agreements entered into after March 31, 2023.