Senate_Canada_LogoICBA President Philip Hochstein is in Ottawa today to testify before the Senate of Canada’s Standing Committee on Banking, Trade, and Commerce.

The committee is considering Private Member’s Bill C-377 that would require labour organizations in Canada to publicly disclose their finances.

The main point Philip will be making is that labour organizations get very special treatment from the government and from the taxpayers with mandatory dues, tax free status, and tax deductibility of dues. Bill C-377 makes sure that in exchange for these special privileges, unions are subject to transparency that will allow union members and taxpayers to be confident they are getting good value.

Philip will make a statement and take questions from the committee sometime between 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. B.C. time today. The Senate will live stream the proceedings here.