I might.
In fact, what seems to be the case is that the information from the department has been a constant. The same information that you are relying on today from your finance officials was available to the Liberal government. In fact, it was the Liberal government that initiated the study back in September 2005, which revealed very clearly the loss of tax revenue, even then significant, given that we hadn't seen the explosion in potential income trusts at the time.
My question relates to that, and perhaps to the officials.... I think by the fall of 2005, the department had already flagged the tax loss question in public documents, and there was also a clear indication that energy giant EnCana was looking at a conversion. There were rumours about other major corporations. We were hearing then about other energy corporations--the banks, you name it, the list just seemed to grow and grow. Yet the Liberal government chose not to act.
Did the department actually take seriously this issue at that time? If it did, what was the explanation from the Liberal Minister of Finance for not acting on it?