Finance committee  Yes, this is the first time we are signing an agreement with these three countries.

Finance committee  Yes, each of the three countries also has to ratify the agreement in accordance with its legislation. The latest reports indicate that Greece has completed the process and is ready to ratify the treaty. As for Colombia, I am told that the Senate approved the treaty at the end of

Finance committee  That is correct. Those two countries must ratify the treaty in order for it to take effect.

Finance committee  This is the first time we have had an agreement with Greece, yes. It is a bit of an anomaly because Greece is a part of the OECD. Let's just say the negotiations took a while.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  Treaties are in force until they are either terminated or amended. We have a network of 87 treaties. Some of them are quite old and they require periodic revision, but these treaties are in force until they are terminated.

Finance committee  We negotiate treaties in terms of broader government policies. We ask the department of foreign affairs to advise us of its opinion on these issues. In the case of Colombia, the position of the department of foreign affairs was that a tax treaty was desirable given the trade volu

Finance committee  One of the main goals of a tax treaty is to prevent tax evasion. The treaty sets out information-sharing mechanisms under which the Canada Revenue Agency can approach tax authorities in each of the three countries and request information on any taxpayer suspected of failing to me

Finance committee  That's right.

Finance committee  These bills generally follow the OECD model and our own policy, which is patterned after the OECD model. There are a few things that are different. One of them, for example, is that the taxation of non-resident business in treaties requires a permanent establishment--that is, a s

Finance committee  That's right. Our treaty policy is to insist on a rate of 5% for dividends when they are dividends from direct investment, usually defined in treaties as investment above either 10% or 15% equity position, and 15% for other dividends. In the case of Turkey, this is give-and-tak

Finance committee  That's right. The rate is bilateral, obviously.

Finance committee  As I said earlier, there are no tax treaties that are alike. But essentially they follow our policy. Obviously, withholding stands out in the case of Turkey. I've already talked about the provision of services. One other thing--and it is not major--is that in the case of the se