Good news: MP Stephen Ellis’ Bill C-323 went to the floor for its Second Reading, and moved on to the next step, with 327 “yes” votes and zero “no” votes. Click HERE for a list of which MPs voted in favour of exempting our work from this unfair tax. (Some of the “yes” voters include: The Finance Minister, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Labour and the incoming Minister of Mental Health, among other Cabinet Ministers; and every party leader from the Greens to the Conservatives.)
What Does this Mean?
The Bill now moves forward to the next phase: it goes to the Finance Committee for further review. This is the same Committee that, this past March, recommended psychotherapy be exempt from GST/HST.
What Are the Coalition’s Next Steps?
Coalition members from the CCPA have already requested the opportunity to testify to the Finance Committee about this Bill. We sincerely hope and expect that this Bill should come out of Finance and go to a third reading and a new vote in Parliament in the next few months.
Our Lobbying firm, Impact, will continue to meet with members of the Finance Committee individually to make our case.
What Can I Do Next?
- If you see your MP on this list of those who voted “Yea” (which means “Yes”) to Bill C-323, feel free to send him/her an email saying “thank you” and asking for their continued support going forward.
Odds are high that your MP will be on this list – 327 of 338 total current MPs were present and voted “yes.” This is an impressive showing.
If you MP wasn’t able to vote, please ask for their support for Bill C-323 going forward.
You can find a letter generator on the Tax Free Therapy Coalition’s website here; then click “SEND A LETTER TO YOUR MP” — the red box in the upper right corner. You can edit the suggested letter as you see fit; we suggest including a “thank you” to those MPs who voted in favour of Bill C-323, and encouraging them to support this Bill at its next stage too.
- Feel free to share this news and the link to the letter generator to friends and colleagues. It’s at www.TaxFreeTherapy.ca.
To learn more about how a Bill becomes a Law, click here.
Thank you for your continued support to remove HST from our services and removing a barrier to access when so many Ontarians need psychotherapy.
- Rachel Fulford & Dr. Natasha Tuletta-Bowman, Co-Vice Chairs, OSRP Board of Directors, Co-Chairs, Advocacy Committee of the OSRP
