Everything you ever wanted to know about Bill C-38, but were afraid to ask

Part 1 implements some tax and related financial measures introduced in the March 29 budget, including:

• temporary measures to allow certain family members to open a Registered Disability Savings Plan for an adult individual who might not be able to enter into a contract;

• extending for one year the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit;

• allowing corporations to make split and late eligible dividend designations;

• making Governor General’s salary taxable;

• amending penalties for filing false charitable donation tax shelters;

• modifying rules for registering foreign charitable organizations;

• amending rules charities engaged in political activities;

• giving National Revenue Minister authority to suspend tax receipts from registered charities or amateur athletic associations if they fail to report annual information;

• amending the Income Tax Act for the implementation of the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act;

• and providing Canada Revenue Agency to issue online notice to file a return and allowing commercial tax preparers to file returns electronically.



Part 2 amends the Excise Tax Act by expanding the list of GST/HST zero-rated medical and assistive devices and zero-rated non-prescription drugs that are used to treat life-threatening diseases. In addition:

• Some pharmacists’ professional services will be exempt from the GST/HST;

• Some literacy organizations will be able to claim a GST/HST rebate on books acquired to be given away for free;

• B.C.’s decision to exit HST framework will be implemented legislatively;

• And standardized fuel consumption EnerGuide test method will be amended.



Part 3 contains certain measures related to “responsible resource development.” Specifically:

• it will enact a new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, establishing a new environmental assessment regime;

• the Environment Minister will have the authority to determine whether assessments for new resource developments are required under new regulations that will test “significant adverse environmental effects”;

• the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the National Energy Board or a review panel established by the Minister are to conduct assessments within 24 months, at which time, a decision statement is to be issued to the project proponent who is required to comply with the conditions set out in it;

• the federal government can delegate environmental assessments to other jurisdictions, such as provinces, and can eliminate their own assessments if one has been made in another jurisdiction;

• Cabinet can now issue decisions on major pipelines instead of the National Energy Board;

• “Environmental effects” under the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will be limited to effects on fish, aquatic species under the Species at Risk Act, migratory birds;

• the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency will have 45 days after receiving an application to decide if an assessment is required;

• environmental assessments no longer required for projects involving federal money;

• Cabinet will be able to over-rule decisions and a retroactive section sets the clock at July 2010 for existing development projects;

• under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, current one-year limits to permits for disposing waste at sea can now be renewed four times;

• fish habitat provisions will be changed to protect only fish of “commercial, aboriginal, and recreational” value;

• pipelines and power lines will be exempt from the provisions of the Navigable Waters Protection Act;

• the Species at Risk Act is being amended to exempt the National Energy Board from having to impose conditions to protect critical habitat on projects it approves;

• reporting requirements under the Parks Canada Agency Act are being reduced, including the annual report;

• pipelines will be exempt from the Navigational Waters Act under an amended Canadian Oil and Gas Operations Act;

• the Coasting Trade Act will be changed to promote seismic testing allowing increased off-shore drilling;

• and under the Nuclear Safety Control Act, environmental assessments will be moved to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which is a licensing body not an assessing body.



Part 4 enacts and amends several acts and addresses other issues, such as:

• the Auditor General of Canada is no longer required to undertake annual financial audits of certain entities and to assess the performance reports of two agencies and eliminates other related obligations;

• amendments to the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Bank Act and the Cooperative Credit Associations Act will prohibit the issuance of life annuity-like products;

• appeals on employment insurance issues will be heard by a new Social Security Tribunal;

• Social Insurance Number cards are eliminated;

• the National Housing Act, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act and the Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada’s Economy Act are amended to enhance the governance and oversight framework of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation;

• the Framework Agreement on Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America signed on May 26, 2009, will be implemented, allowing the FBI the right to make arrests in Canada;

• members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be insured under the Canada Health Act;

• the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act is amended to remove the office of the Inspector General; require the Security Intelligence Review Committee to submit to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness a certificate on the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s annual report; and increase the information on the Service’s activities to be provided by that Committee to that Minister;

• the Canadian penny is eliminated;

• the Health Minister gains the power to establish a list that sets out prescription drugs or classes of prescription drugs and to provide that the list may be incorporated by reference. It also gives the Minister the power to issue marketing authorizations that exempt a food, or an advertisement with respect to a food, from certain provisions of the Act. The division also provides that a regulation with respect to a food and a marketing authorization may incorporate by reference any document;

• International Development Research Centre’s governors reduced to 14;

• parties to a collective bargaining agreement are required to file a copy of the agreement with the Labour Minister in order for it to come into force;

• the Public Appointments Commission and its secretariat are eliminated;

• the Canada Seeds Act moves inspecting seed crops from Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors to “authorized service providers” in the private sector;

• the Canada Gazette will no longer be printed on paper;

• changes to the Customs Act allow the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to designate a portion of a roadway or other access way that leads to a customs office and that is used by persons arriving in Canada and by persons travelling within Canada as a mixed-traffic corridor. All persons who are travelling in a mixed-traffic corridor must present themselves to a border services officer and state whether they are arriving from a location outside or within Canada;

• Old Age Security benefits will be increased to 67 years of age;

• two permanent members will replace vice-chairs under the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act;

• Rights and Democracy will be eliminated;

• the Agriculture Minister will have new powers to declare certain areas to be control zones in respect of a disease or toxic substance, to make regulations prohibiting the movement of persons, animals or things in the control zones for the purpose of eliminating a disease or toxic substance or controlling its spread and to impose conditions on the movement of animals or things in those zones;

• the board of governors for the Canada School of Public Service will be abolished and the minister responsible will take over its duties;

• a preamble to the Bank Act will be added;

• under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, certain requirements for certain reviews will be eliminated;

• “Seismic activities” will be added to the Coasting Trade Act as an exceptions to the prohibition against foreign ships and non-duty paid ships engaging in the coasting trade;

• the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal will be eliminated and powers to the Canada Industrial Relations Board;

• the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy will be eliminated;

• Canadian telecommunications rules are changed to allow foreign ownership;

• removes the Federal Contractors Program for Employment Equity from the Employment Equity Act;

• employment insurance regulation changes to include benefits being determined by the highest earnings in a number of to be determined weeks, redefining “suitable employment,” how the rates are set and when overpayments can be deducted and paid;

• duty free limits for Canadian travellers is increased;

• First Nations land codes will be implemented;

• the maximum indemnity for individual travelling exhibitions, as well as the maximum indemnity in respect of all travelling exhibitions is increased;

• the chief executive officer of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is appointed by the Governor in Council and an employee may not replace the chief executive officer for more than 90 days without the Governor in Council’s approval;

• the First Nations Statistical Institute is eliminated;

• the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act is amended to provide for the payment or reimbursement of fees for career transition services for veterans or their survivors;

• The National Council of Welfare is eliminated;

• the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act is repealed;

• Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, requiring government accountability and results reporting on climate change policies, is repealed;

• the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act will be amended to make changes to permanent residence and immigration applications;

• Shared Services Canada gets implemented under legislation, and allows for the government to appoint a minister for the new department;

• and the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada is eliminated.

Original Article
Source: hill times
Author Bea Vongdouangchanh