Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.
What drew my attention in these provisions is the amendment to subsection 241(9.4) of the act. This amendment aims to broaden or breach tax secrecy by allowing Canada Revenue Agency officials to provide police authorities with information if they have reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed.
I think this provision should be analyzed to take into account all the issues it encompasses, since the Supreme Court reminded us, over 20 years ago, in Slattery,
that the preservation of confidential tax information is extremely important to our tax system, which is based on self-reporting. We have to be careful, when opening that kind of change, allowing the tax authorities to change information and contexts where they believe a crime has been committed, that this will not cause an issue with the fundamental principles that underlie our tax self-reporting system.
I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that this committee may have on my observations with regard to this particular provision, which is subclause 28(3), which amends subsection 241(9.4) of the act.
Thank you.