Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want also to say that I'm thrilled to be here at my first meeting on the finance committee. I expect it's going to be interesting, and I look forward to working with all of the opposition members and, of course, my colleagues next to me on this committee.
First, I want to thank you for testifying today. Mr. Deneault and Ms. Alepin, you have clearly expressed that there is a real international problem. I have heard what you said, and I am in full agreement.
I would like to ask Mr. Owens a question about this, because it's important to understand the history of tax havens.
Mr. Owens, I would like to ask you to briefly touch on the history of tax havens. It's been indicated a couple of times in committee that this is an international problem, and of course Canada is one of the cogs in the wheel that's trying to move forward to resolve this.
You have mentioned a couple of things that you think are good advancements—the agreements, the reviews—but I need to have you explain a little bit of the timeline. When did Canada first start to address this issue, and what are the significant things that have been done to date that have impacted on this in a positive way? Can you give me the timeline and an approximate idea of the years these came into place?
When did this start? When did the positive action begin to take place? What were those positive actions? Tell us about that in respect to the international aspect of this issue.