The federal government is pushing ahead with its pledge to create a national securities regulator, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty telling a Toronto business audience yesterday that he's "confident" it will happen.
Flaherty said he would appoint a panel to develop draft legislation on a single stock market watchdog over the next several months.
Canada's current system, with 13 provincial and territorial regulators, is "an embarrassment, quite frankly," when compared to other developed countries, he added.
While Ontario supports the creation of a national stock market watchdog, some other provinces, including British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick, oppose it.
Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget said last month that forcing the issue might result in constitutional debate.
Flaherty also faced questions about the soaring Canadian dollar and income trusts following his luncheon speech to the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance.
Asked about the economic impact of the dollar reaching a value of $1.10 (U.S.) or more – it reached $1.0718 yesterday – Flaherty declined to comment, at one point saying that Bank of Canada governor David Dodge "will be very grumpy with me if I answer that question."
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He conceded that the decision to tax income trusts, breaking a promise given in the Tories' election platform, was a "very difficult" one. "By levelling the playing field ... the government can simplify and reduce corporate income taxes overall," Flaherty said.
Flaherty also touted the benefits of the personal and corporate income tax cuts he unveiled last week.
"These are broad-based tax reductions that will strengthen our economy," he told the crowd. "We're liberating business to make new jobs and increase their investment."
After the speech, reporters asked about a campaign by Toronto and other major cities to get "one cent" of the goods and services tax.
Flaherty responded that a national infrastructure fund, which includes funding for Toronto's transit system, is already in place. "It's a question of the governments getting the money out the door, the local governments getting the projects going. It's not a question of lack of resources," Flaherty said.
He added that sharing GST revenue is not an option. "It's not going to happen," Flaherty said. "The government of Canada is not in the business of raising tax dollars for the purpose of funding
the budgets of other jurisdictions."
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organizations attended
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