Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.
Thank you, Madam Fraser, and your staff for being here today.
This issue of tax debt gets a lot of Canadians riled up. We all got mail, I'm sure, after your report came out, and it was duly reported by the media.
A typical response that we get is like the one I got from a Mr. Kapz on Pickley Crescent in Winnipeg. He says:
When Auditor General Sheila Fraser presented her most recent report, the item that irritated me the most was the fact that the federal government is owed some $18 billion in back taxes. I have to pay my income tax quarterly, and if my annual tax return is inaccurate, Canada Customs and Revenue is immediately after me to make up any shortfall. Yet there are apparently thousands of citizens, businesses, and corporations who owe far more than I do....
This person goes on to say that we've got the law, there just doesn't seem to be the will to collect.
I'm wondering, since you were at this in 1994—it's 14 years later, and we've gone from $5 billion or $6 billion in taxes owed to $18 billion—is it a question of the law not being strong enough? Do we need to make amendments to the CRAA? Or is it a question of the will to collect taxes? And is that because there are consequences for decision-makers if we go too hard after certain bodies for tax evasion?