I want to build on what Mr. Van Kesteren has been talking about.
In particular, Professor Cockfield, you've written about corporate tax reform. Just now you talked about consumption tax. Initially you suggested that maybe if we had a British approach, an independent panel, we might finally get on with tax simplification, and fixing what Professor Moffat called gobbledygook and tax loopholes, citing Ronald Reagan.
Even the accountants have told us the same thing every year, and nothing gets done. I'm very skeptical about it. The government likes boutique tax credits because it gets to buy votes with that. I don't think it's a partisan thing; it has been around for years. Now it's on the corporate side, which, let's face it, is where a lot of the complexity of the Tax Act comes from. Drafters need to put these complicated rules down in black and white. That's the system we have, and it makes a lot of lawyers and accountants rich in doing so, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
My point is, how can we possibly reform the corporate tax system?
To get to the question, Professor Cockfield, you've written that Canada's current corporate tax system is failing on a number of fronts. It discourages investment, hampers innovation and productivity by taxing the normal rate of capital, and increases the rate of bankruptcy, etc. etc.; it's very inefficient.
What is the alternative for the corporate side to simplify the Tax Act?