Thank you, Chair.
Thank you all for appearing before the committee today. This is obviously a very contentious bill, and we certainly have heard some concern.
Mr. Thomas, it's interesting, At first I was somewhat taken aback or surprised that you would appear before the committee in this regard. You really don't have any skin in the game, I don't think, as some might argue the Canadian Federation of Independent Business or some of the labour unions do.
It's clear to everybody who reads the Income Tax Act that the two major groups that really benefit most directly from special tax breaks within the act are registered charities and labour unions. They receive very generous taxpayer-backed subsidies worth millions of dollars. That's becoming quite evident. While the charities have to publicly disclose things like compensation for their executives and the way they use funds, unions have to disclose nothing. I think you pointed that out as well. From the perspective of the taxpayer, why should the rules and regulations around disclosure be any different for the two groups, or why not?