Registration - In-house Organization

Subject Matters

• Aboriginal Affairs
• Agriculture
• Arts and Culture
• Broadcasting
• Budget
• Climate
• Constitutional Issues
• Consumer Issues
• Defence
• Education
• Employment and Training
• Energy
• Environment
• Financial Institutions
• Fisheries
• Forestry
• Health
• Immigration
• Industry
• Intellectual Property
• International Trade
• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Labour
• National Security/Security
• Regional Development
• Science and Technology
• Small Business
• Taxation and Finance
• Telecommunications
• Tourism
• Transportation

Subject Matter Details

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• Bill C-28, Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act to ensure this bill is passed by Parliament to help businesses fight the problem of spam and maximize their efficiencies and to ensure this legislation does not place unnecessary burdens on Canadian businesses
• Bill C-311, Climate Change Accountability Act with respect to the medium term GHG target for 2020
• Bill C-32, An Act to Modernize the Copyright Act with regard to ensuring the bill is good for business interests and protects Canadian copyrighted material adequately in the digital age
• Bill C-469, An Act to Establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Right. The Canadian Chamber is opposed to this Bill as it is unnecessary, would lead to increased litigation and would increase investment uncertainty.
• Bill C-481 An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canada Labour Code (mandatory retirement age) expressing support in principle for the bill and advocate amendments to ensure employers retain with the flexibility to maintain occupational requirements based on age that exist for safety reasons and that allow employers to consider age in the administration of employee pension, benefit and insurance plans.
• Bill C-501, An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and other Acts (pension protection) with respect to its negative impact on the cost of capital and on Canadians whose pension portfolios include corporate bonds issued by the affected companies
• Bill S-214, An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and other Acts (unfunded pension plan liabilities) )" WITH RESPECT TO the unintended, and adverse, consequences for employers, plan sponsors and many Canadians should such a bill pass
• Intellectual Property Rights - Strengthened legislation to better protect Intellectual Property Rights. Make counterfeiting and piracy criminal offences under the Criminal Code; Trademark counterfeiting a specific criminal offence under the Trade-Marks Act; and impose stronger penalties for counterfeiting and piracy that endangers the health and safety of Canadians.
• New legislation with respect to providing First Nations with the option to opt out of the Indian Act’s land tenure provisions and assume underlying ownership of their reserves.
• Part I Canada Labour Code - Replacement Workers

Policies or Program

• BORDER CROSSINGS - Border Contingency Planning with respect to the development of A Border Contingency Plan ie the recently released Plan for the Movement of People and goods During and Following an Emergency. Government agencies working on this file include CBSA and Public Safety. We support the development of this plan.
• BORDER CROSSINGS - Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative with regard to the increased promotion of the relevant programs (ie NEXUS, FAST, Enhanced Driver Licenses to the general public and business community)
• Digital Economy Strategy. Submissions to the government, looking for more of an emphasis placed on the digital economy by the government
• EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE Reform - standardize eligibility criteria, amend rate-setting formula, remove social program aspects of EI from the regular premium structure, implement an employer-based experience rating system, reduce employer EI premium rate to equal that paid by employees, and refund employer over-contributions - Taxation and Finance
• EMPLOYMENT/TRAINING - Temporary Foreign Workers Program/Prevailing Wage Rate with regard to ensuring the Prevailing Wage Rate reflects wages paid to Canadian workers
• ENERGY – Development of a national Canadian Sustainable Energy Strategy, support development of all parts of the energy sector the entire energy value chain
• ENVIRONMENT – Environmental assessment regulatory system, harmonization of regulations with provinces, transborder waste movement regulations
• Employment Insurance - Employer premiums for, and scope of the Employment Insurance Program
• Employment/Training - Re-training programs and older workers with regard to ensuring Canada's workforce has the skills to meet employers' and incentives to encourage older workers to remain in the work force and improving education/workforce outcomes for Aboriginal peoples.
• Employment/Training - Temporary Foreign Workers Program/Prevailing Wage Rate with regard to ensuring the Prevailing Wage Rate reflects wages paid to Canadian workers.
• FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS - Promote balanced free trade agreements for Canada with Europe, Peru, Columbia and Korea
• IMMIGRATION REFORM - Expedited application process with regard to giving priority to applicants who possess skills in short supply in Canada and processing their applications within 6-12 months.
• IMMIGRATION REFORM - Foreign Credentials Recognition Program with regard to working with the provinces/territories and business community to develop national accreditation standards to evaluate foreign credentials, professional and trade qualifications, and certification in regulated and non-regulated occupations that reflect employers' needs
• INTERNAL TRADE - removing interprovincial barriers to trade, investment, and labour mobility within Canada
• NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT - Security & Prosperity Partnership
• Pensions/Retirement Savings Reform - Finance Canada, with regard to ensuring the government pursues a balanced, competitive approach to pension savings that includes private sector options for businesses and consumers and that any additions to CPP be voluntary and funded by employees
• Responsible Business Conduct - ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility with regard to its applicability to all types of organizations (business, government and civil society) and the scope of social responsibility obligations.
• SPENDING CONTROL - Clarify the respective roles of federal and provincial/territorial governments in the areas of health care, social services, post-secondary education, social assistance and training
• SPENDING CONTROL - Continue to review all direct program spending and operating costs on a four-year cycle to determine where the payoffs are the greatest, and identify areas where spending can be reduced or eliminated Taxation and Finance
• TAX/DEBT REDUCTION - Ensure the federal debt-to-Gross Domestic Product target falls to below 35% by 2015 - Federal Budget Taxation and Finance
• TAX/DEBT REDUCTION - Harmonize provincial retail taxes with the Goods and Service Tax, reduce personal income tax rates across all income tax brackets and make improvements to Capital Cost Allowance rates - Taxation and Finance
• TRANSPORTATION POLICY in regards to the development of a National Transportation Strategy
• Taxation and Finance - Clarify the respective roles of federal and provincial/territorial governments in the areas of health care, social services, post-secondary education, social assistance and training
• Taxation and Finance - Continue to review all direct program spending and operating costs on a four-year cycle to determine where the payoffs are the greatest, and identify areas where spending can be reduced or eliminated
• Taxation and Finance - Harmonize provincial retail taxes with the Goods and Service Tax, make improvements to Capital Cost Allowance rates, reduce corporate income taxes as planned
• Taxation and Finance - Personal & Corporate taxes
• Telecommunications. Foreign ownership in telecommunications. The Chamber made a submission to the government on the consultation regarding foreign ownership in telecommunications moving forward. The Canadian Chamber advocates that future telecommunications policies should be focused on creating the right investment incentives that will foster vibrant competition in the sector as a whole and not favour only certain companies. The government’s commitment to “open Canada’s doors further to venture capital and to foreign investment in key sectors, including the satellite and telecommunications industries” was made in the Speech from the Throne on March 3, 2010.
• Tobacco package labeling. A Health Canada proposal would potentially see the health warnings on packaging increase from 50% to 75%. The Canadian Chamber believes that increasing the health warning labels is not necessary at this time.
• WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION/ MILLENIUM ROUND - Pushing for an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Doha Round Negotiations

Regulation

• CLIMATE CHANGE - development of a national carbon pricing system, international negotiations, Clean Energy Dialogue with US"
• INTERNAL TRADE - Single Securities Regulator with regard to the adoption of a national securities regulator to administer a unified regulatory process

Communication Techniques

• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Grass-roots communication

Government Institutions

• Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
• Advisory Council on National Security (ACNS)
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
• Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB)
• Bank of Canada
• Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
• Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
• Canada Labour Relations Board (CLRB)
• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Canadian Heritage (PCH)
• Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT)
• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
• Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)
• Canadian Pension Commission (CPC)
• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
• Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA)
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• Competition Bureau Canada (COBU)
• Competition Tribunal (CT)
• Environment Canada
• Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office (FEARO)
• Federal Office of Regional Development – Quebec (FORD[Q])
• Finance Canada (FIN)
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
• Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAITC)
• Health Canada (HC)
• House of Commons
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
• Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
• Industry Canada
• Justice Canada (JC)
• National Defence (DND)
• National Energy Board (NEB)
• Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
• Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL)
• Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC)
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
• Privy Council Office (PCO)
• Public Safety Canada (PS)
• Public Works and Government Services Canada
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
• Senate of Canada
• Service Canada (ServCan)
• Solicitor General Canada (SGC)
• Statistics Canada (StatCan)
• Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB)
• Transport Canada (TC)
• Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS)
• Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD)

Address:
360 Albert Street
Suite 420
Ottawa, ON  K1R 7X7
Canada

Telephone number: 613-238-4000  Ext. 245
Fax number: 613-238-7643