Finance committee  If I may, whether it's student loans or tax debt, or whatever, we seek to recover as much as we can. There are situations--bankruptcies, deaths obviously, or people leaving the country--so no, we can never achieve 100%, but we try our best. Certainly, because of the nature of the tax system, if someone, for instance, has subsequent income tax refunds coming to them, we have an offset procedure that allows us to recover over time.

Finance committee  Well, that certainly wasn't the government decision in having us take over the collection of outstanding student debts. In honesty, once the CRA has exhausted all of the tools we have at our disposal to collect an outstanding debt, I'm skeptical whether any private company would be able to pick up any more of that.

Finance committee  At this point, sir, the $19.5 million is what we are expecting.

Finance committee  That question would have been a consideration when the tax policy was set and would best be directed to the Department of Finance.

Finance committee  The responsibility for determining tax expenditures and the impact resides with the Department of Finance.

Finance committee  This particular program is new. The $19.5 million, which is what's included in the supplementary estimates, will allow us to get ready to administer the program. In a year or so from now we'll be in a position to know what the take-up is.

Finance committee  Again, what you're talking about is a matter of tax policy.

Finance committee  What we're setting up is the infrastructure to accept them. The Department of Finance may have some estimates in terms of what the take-up would be.

Finance committee  I certainly could be accountable for the costs. In developing this estimate, we've taken on board the best assumptions that were available at the time. I don't have them all in front of me, obviously. What our traditional experiences are in administering--

Finance committee  The part that we can accommodate would be the costs associated with administering the program. We could not comment, because we're not in a position to, on the foregone revenue.

Finance committee  I couldn't comment on that, sir. We're charged simply with administering the export charge and making sure we accurately collect the right amount and that it goes out to the provinces correctly as well. That's the extent of our involvement in this program.

Finance committee  No. You're talking about a policy issue that would have gone into the genesis of the whole arrangement. Policy for that program rests with International Trade. We're charged with administering that portion of it.

Finance committee  We essentially get paid to make sure that policy, as set by federal and provincial governments, happens the way it's expected to happen, and that's what we do.

Finance committee  This program, of course, is just starting this year. For the last little while and on an ongoing basis, people can of course open up these tax-free savings accounts with more and more financial institutions. The requirement for reporting back to the CRA doesn't occur until the end of this year, in time for the next filing season.

Finance committee  The only provinces affected are the ones that have ratified the agreement, and that includes British Colombia and a few others. However, we don't have the figures on how these charges are divided. If you wish, we could draw up a list for you showing the breakdown.