Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for your testimony today. I'm going to start with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Ms. Pohlmann, thank you for being here and for raising the issue of indirect interests. Obviously, governments need to be up front and clear with the business community, because businesses require not only opportunity to grow but also certainty. So when suddenly the government introduces rules that are vague or that do not necessarily allow them to understand how they need to comply, it can trigger all sorts of unintended consequences. People stop doing things just because they're not sure. It's a grey zone, and oftentimes accountants are some of the most conservative in a business sense, Mr. Chair.
First of all, has the government been able to convey what problem it is trying to fix by introducing these indirect ownership restrictions?