Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for being here today. This may surprise my fellow members, but most of my questions, which I think are important ones, will be for the Canada Revenue Agency officials. My intentions are good, so I want to try to find solutions that will help you.
I don't agree with your assessment that the criminal investigations into tax evasion are effective and going well. Allow me to refer to an article published not that long ago, just before Christmas, in fact. According to the article, of the 78 convictions handed down in the past two years—one of the Minister of National Revenue's talking points—none, or at least very few, involved offshore tax evasion. I don't think that's exactly a stellar result.
Would you say not having a national public registry of individuals who are company owners, in other words, beneficial owners, hinders the work of investigators at the criminal investigations directorate? Would you like Parliament to fix the problem tied to beneficial owners so that your organization and others can quickly access information on individuals who own a company in Canada?