Hon. Lucie Moncion: My question is for Senator Gold, the Government Representative in the Senate.

It concerns Canada’s financial cooperative sector. The 2023 budget announced changes to the current definition of “credit union” in the Income Tax Act. These changes will guarantee that credit cooperatives can continue to provide a full range of financial services to more than 10 million Canadians and remain competitive in order to prevent Canadian banks from having a monopoly on financial services.

Having spent 38 years in the sector, I am pleased with Canada’s commitment to financial cooperatives. However, these amendments are not found in Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.

Senator Gold, what is the government’s intention with respect to this measure announced in the 2023 budget? Why wasn’t it included in Bill C-47, and when will it be included in a budget implementation bill?