I would like to put a couple of things on the record. We don't necessarily agree 100%, but I think we agree on the basics.
We want this so we can give an option to the government. I think it's a long-term study. We're basically looking at tax reform. We've seen a lot of different articles, such as what the next phase is and where other countries are going with their taxation policy. And we're seeing a lot of changes.
I don't want to conclude what the report will say; I would prefer that we give options to whatever government is going to be here in the future. If the government chooses to focus on consumption taxes, then it would be about the repercussions on other taxes. I want to basically look at the overall revenues of the government and what it can sacrifice in lieu of another tax it may collect. That's why we included personal taxes, corporate consumption, and import tariffs. That's why we included all of them. But it's not exclusive.
If you look at the various ways the government has been collecting taxes in the past, one of the items that has been a bit unclear has been the collection of taxes for unemployment that don't necessarily go to that benefit. In the past they have collected taxes for airports and we're not sure if it all goes for airport usage. These are all different items. If any committee is going to study them, it has to be the finance committee. We look at taxation from A to Z.
One of the things that Rick and I discussed was travelling. One of the easier places to get to is the United States, but we would want to meet with the right people. Before we travel, I think we should have the research staff provide us with the work that has been done already so we don't duplicate it. I know there have been studies from all the reputable economists, but some of it is out of date. I would look at what's current out there.
We talked about Ireland as a model, but there are also some changes in how the Nordic countries are looking at their taxation policy. And of course there's the whole European Union and the way they're changing the taxation of their constituencies.
I think this could be a very lengthy and very detailed study, and I think it's going to require non-partisanship and a bit of work before we can actually do the work.
I would like to conclude on another point. My idea for having this motion, as I said, is for the long term. It's not to necessarily get it done before a certain date. If there are bills or other motions that interrupt this study, I would have no problem with that.