Finance committee  No. In fact, to be very accurate, we say for convenience that we collect tax for the provinces, but what we do is administer a tax agreement that is signed between the federal government and the province. The tax agreement describes the service and the collection we'll make and the rules for it, and it's financed by the federal government.

Finance committee  I will ask Mr. O'Connor to comment a little more on that, but one has to realize that when we decide to administer the tax, we also get the penalties and the interest as a result. The whole negotiation is the savings to a province for the collection of tax versus the additional revenue the federal government can make through penalties and interest and the cost of administration, and it's all that calculation that leads to a negotiation.

Finance committee  The creation of the agency brought into what was the revenue department individuals from the private sector who imposed their judgment on the various elements of the management of the agency. That has yielded an extreme rigour within the agency. Because I came from another department into the agency, I can tell you from experience that as a result, the nature of the issues around the management table are very different.

Finance committee  We do have that information. Mr. Baker has the answer.

Finance committee  I can comment only on the year and a half that I've been there. I can tell you that the act provides that the agency has to give the Minister of National Revenue all the information he or she asks for. So there's a flow of information that takes place. As the commissioner, I have never been asked to audit or not audit, to investigate or not investigate, or to assess or not assess a particular taxpayer, firm, or any other organization.

Finance committee  I don't have the answer, but we can provide it.

Finance committee  There are two things there. The first thing is the relationship with the union. I'd like to think we have an excellent relationship with both unions of employees, and I encourage the committee to ask them the question. We've been working very hard on all sides to develop that relationship, and I have the utmost respect for the work the unions are doing.

Finance committee  Was that from the last budget?

Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, there are quite a number of aspects to the questions. I will have to defer some aspects to my expert colleagues. One thing that is very common is that people come to me and say they've been audited. I would ask all members of Parliament to help on that. When we start asking questions, we realize that what the people received were letters asking for more information.

Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, we don't disagree with this. We're not satisfied that we've made enough progress either. The thing to understand is it is not as if we've done nothing since 1994. The issue is that we were confronted with a series of priorities, and this one has not moved as quickly as we would have liked.

Finance committee  Actually, we created the agency in that period of time. That was a major investment. If you look at our volume of growth, for example, we sustained a growth of about.... If you look at the report on page 64, you see in figure 10 the graph that shows the growth from 1999 to 2004.

Finance committee  Absolutely, Mr. Chair. The model of the agency is very important for all the senior management, and we'll be here as often as you request us to be here.

Finance committee  With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would ask Mr. Kowalski to answer that question.

Finance committee  We look for it if there's something available.

Finance committee  I don't know if the member refers to what we used to call service counters or inquiry counters, where anybody could walk in and see someone. If I go back to the original question—do I believe Canadians should have access to civil servants?—absolutely. This is why Service Canada was created, and this is why we have an appointment system that allows people to sit down with someone who knows what questions will be asked and is able to serve well.