Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The preamble to that last question just simply can't go without some reply.
Mr. Chair, and to our witnesses, a decision was made—seemingly, one would guess, at the ministerial level—to change how the disability tax credit is applied. We have a letter signed in the minister's own hand that states she believes that most type 1 diabetics do not meet the criteria. That's a policy decision. That has nothing to do with how many tax collectors the CRA employs. It doesn't have to do with cuts. It doesn't have to do with the number of employees when a minister makes a decision. It doesn't have to do with committees.
I would also note, and remind you for the record, that transfers to the CRA steadily increased throughout the last Parliament. I'm not sure what these cuts are to which Ms. O'Connell refers. The number of personnel employed by the CRA, I understand, peaked in about 2004 at 51,000 employees. It was cut during the final Parliament of the last Liberal government by 11,000 people.
None of this really matters. What matters is getting to a resolution over an issue that happened this past May, which is when, according to reports we've heard at this committee, the approval rate for type 1 diabetics appears to have gone from an 80% approval to an 80% rejection. The questions that have been asked around here are trying to get to the reason, because it simply appears that there was a change in language in the letters and questionnaires that go to medical personnel that asserts that most type 1 diabetics don't, in fact, qualify.
I cede the floor to you, Mr. Vermaeten. It would seem to be that simple—that this change in language in the form is what has resulted in this change from 80% approval to 80% rejection. We await the data, as specific as possible, to demonstrate where the approvals went and where they are now.