Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for your presentations. It has become clear from the testimonies that this subject is not as straight forward as the rather simplistic presentation made on October 31 would have led us to believe.
Mr. Fortin et Mr. Tait, you argued that converting income trusts into publically traded companies may have an adverse effect on the government's tax revenue.
Does the $500 million amount quoted by the minister last Tuesday seem exaggerated or inflated in your opinion? Is the current income trust structure resulting in tax revenue losses? If you were indeed right—and I have no doubt about the legitimacy of your arguments—, why would the government and the department have chosen to go down this path knowing full well that, at the end of the day, they would collect less revenue than they currently collect under the existing income trust structure?