Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has decided not to make public the federal research that supports the cabinet's statement that the GST holiday for builders will lead to lower rents. According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Freeland referred to this information as “confidential.”“The department of finance doesn’t have very much respect for elected officials,” said Bloc Québécois MP Gabriel Ste-Marie (Joliette, QC), vice-chair of the Commons Finance committee who requested the data. “This has been going on for two years now.”“There is a lack of seriousness here, a lack of regard,” said Ste-Marie. “When you block parliamentarians from doing their jobs, I oppose that. The government is the taskmaster here and sets the schedule.”Ste-Marie asked in an Inquiry of Ministry, “What are the details of opinions and studies, including the date, summary of the studies and source of documents that led the Minister of Finance to conclude that removing the GST would lower the cost of housing?”Any research was secret, replied Freeland. “In processing parliamentary returns, the department of finance applies the principles set out in the Access to Information Act and certain information has been withheld on the grounds the information constitutes cabinet confidences,” Freeland wrote in the Inquiry.On September 21, the cabinet introduced Bill C-56 An Act to Amend the Excise Tax Act. This bill proposes a GST holiday for new "purpose-built rental housing" built by 2036. In their Fall Economic Statement on November 21, the finance department estimated that this would cost $4.6 billion over five years.Ste-Marie told the Commons Finance committee that legislators had little information justifying the expense. “It is unacceptable,” he said.“There are two weeks left before the House rises,” said Ste-Marie. “Does the government seriously expect us to go through this mammoth bill and do our jobs properly? This is unacceptable.”“You don’t respect the work we are doing here,” said Ste-Marie. “It is unacceptable. I hope the next Budget Implementation Act is done properly so we can actually do our jobs.”Cabinet has not estimated how many new rental apartments it expects to be built due to the GST holiday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on September 14 that the measure would see “millions of people, thousands of people, getting into new apartments.” Housing Minister Sean Fraser testified on September 27 at the Commons Human Resources committee that “I have seen estimates as high as 200,000 to 300,000 new homes for Canadians over the next ten years.”Managers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) told the Senate National Finance committee that they do not have any information on the effects of the GST cut.“I don’t have a specific figure,” Bob Dugan, chief CMHC economist, testified on September 26.“What is the impact you see on the supply of rental housing?” asked Senator Clément Gignac (QC). “We haven’t had the opportunity to assess the potential impact,” replied Chief Economist Dugan. “This is an environment that is really difficult right now.”
