Thank you very much.
I want to talk specifically about tax havens. I'm going back to some of these small places, which have very small economies and where there are large amounts of money invested.
Over the last 10 years, Canadians have invested about $390 billion in Barbados, which has a population of 284,000 people. They invested $175 billion in the Cayman Islands, which has a population of 55,000. Obviously, some of that money is absolutely above board and legitimate. But the money that is not legitimate means that the average middle-class family gets hammered and ends up paying more in taxes, plus getting less in government programs and services, than they would otherwise get if this money were adequately reported and taxed.
We know that there was some disclosure, through whistleblowers, of the Swiss banks. That brought money that was disclosed in Germany, and a number of Canadians were found to be holding money in Swiss bank accounts.
Aside from having whistleblowers, my question is, how effective are the TIEAs in tracking down and finding this kind of information? What record of compliance have we had, and what moneys have been found and greater taxes paid through these international agreements?
Would anyone care to comment on that?