We appreciate your being here, gentlemen.
We know that being in the tax collection business does generate, shall we say, some less than desirable publicity at times. I do want to ask you about that, though.
As members of Parliament--at least I speak for myself, and I know other members of Parliament have told me the same--we do have constituents coming to us on a fairly regular basis very concerned about what you might call the culture of the agency on tax collection, in terms of reasonableness, in terms of effort expended for small amounts sometimes. I don't want to get into storytelling, but I think you know what I'm referring to.
Some of the stories I've heard have troubled me a great deal, and my question is as follows. If a taxpayer feels that they have been harassed, treated unfairly, have had their assets sold without proper authorization and then been unable to get the asset back once there's a ruling that it was improperly seized and sold--these kinds of things--is there an ombudsman? Is there a process where taxpayers can bring these issues forward and get some redress?
I know as members of Parliament we've been a little bit frustrated sometimes in trying to get a resolution for actions--and we know individuals don't always act as wisely as they could or should.
What's your corporate culture on dealing with these kinds of issues for ordinary Canadians who are up against the all-powerful department and really don't have the resources to seek redress when they feel they've been very unfairly treated?