Finance committee  You have raised many issues, sir. First, the objective of our agency consists in providing the highest quality service to the public, and every Canadian citizen is a client of ours. We provide a lot of services in order to answer their questions and solve their problems. As we have 25 million taxpayers, nearly 2 million companies and many other people working in the field of taxation, problems can crop up at times.

Finance committee  Certainly, as indicated earlier, the forecast would have been developed by our colleagues in the Department of Finance. With your permission, perhaps they would be better able to respond to that.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, I do believe we actually did reply to the committee, and the figure was eight million. The estimate was based on eight million Canadians opting to open up tax-free savings accounts. That information was a follow-up, so we would have provided that in the weeks following our appearance on supplementaries (B) in February.

Finance committee  Frankly, it's way too soon to tell, because people can operate up to the end of the year to do this. I suspect many will. They'll see what their overall economic situation is, as often people do when they make contributions to RRSPs. It's often done at the last minute, when they decide whether they can afford it or not, or what's in their best interest.

Finance committee  --but I'm certainly not aware of any as we speak.

Finance committee  Firstly, this is a matter of tax policy. Our responsibility within the agency is to administer the act. As concerns certain employees located in British Columbia, the government chose to deal with that case differently. It is a decision that must be made by government. It is, otherwise, incumbent upon us to enforce the act as it is worded.

Finance committee  Again, I'll just repeat. The tax treatment of stock options and stock purchase plans is clear under the act, and we administer it in accordance to that. Any change in light of economic developments or economic distress would have to be considered by the Minister of Finance, if they wish to change the act.

Finance committee  The Canada Revenue Agency has in certain areas some discretion. I'll give you a different example completely. For instance, we've used the authority we have to extend the filing season for victims of the Manitoba flood. They have until the end of May to file their tax returns, and that's something we have as a discretionary authority.

Finance committee  Certainly I'm not equipped to respond to that. I'd have to look at it. We've had tax administration now for 90 years, and I'd have to see if there are examples--

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, we are tracking the situation closely and right now, there is no serious problem. We have found ways to resolve these problems. I am convinced that they have been resolved. When somebody doesn't receive his or her salary, it is very serious. We have adopted measures to resolve the problems.

Finance committee  Thank you. I will begin by answering your second question. Indeed, since these compensation centres were established, there have been a few operational problems. I am pleased to tell you that today, we have resolved these problems. Yesterday, or the day before yesterday, there was even an article published in the Public Service Alliance of Canada newsletter on the resolution of this problem.

Finance committee  Certainly that's approximately the amount that's been set aside to cover the costs to the Canada Revenue Agency to set up the systems and other information, such as web sources and publications, to support the administration, regardless of the actual flow-through on that measure.

Finance committee  At this point in time, that estimate would be all in. It would be everything we think we are going to spend.

Finance committee  Sir, I think my response is not going to be unlike my response when I was here before. First of all, it's a new program. We do not have any experience with the administration of this. We do not know yet what the uptake will be in terms of the number of taxpayers who choose to benefit from this program or the amount of money that will go into it.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Merci beaucoup. I'm pleased to have an opportunity to be here today to present the CRA's 2009-10 main estimates. We're certainly prepared to answer any questions you may have. Joining me today are two officials from the CRA. To my immediate right is Jim Ralston, the chief financial officer; and to his right is Filipe Dinis, the acting deputy assistant commissioner of our finance and administration branch.