Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm here pursuant to something that should be agreeable to members, since it was a resolution and motion passed by the committee that summons me here, as opposed to having the rights I used to have at report stage to provide substantive amendments. I'm in your hands and I have my minute.
In this case, I'm presenting an amendment that is somewhat similar, certainly similar in intent if not in wording, to what you just defeated in amendment NDP-2. Let me try to put forward the reasons.
Very clearly, the committee had evidence before it, particularly from tax law expert Stéphane Eljarrat, who pointed out that it's very important to have this requirement for a judge's permission before the CRA staff reaches out to police. There is a real risk here, both for the CRA as an authority.... As he pointed out, their role as an authority is both to “ensure that taxes are paid in a civil manner and that they can also result in criminal prosecutions in the case of tax evasion”. It's critical, in other words, that we involve the judiciary.
To those who are worried about not getting evidence of tax fraud into the hands of police, I would say that I think it's really important to get evidence of tax fraud to the police. I don't want to go over my time, Mr. Chair; I just want to remind everybody that Al Capone, who was a multiple murderer and famous crook, was caught for tax evasion. The way to get at that is to have forensic accounting staff on the police forces of Canada, as they do in other nations.