Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Deneault, for being here today.
I am very interested in what you have to say, and I think you bring, as you said, a philosophical perspective to the discussion. It's worthwhile to look at these major issues from that angle.
You made two comments that I want to address. You spoke of the Prime Minister of Canada's action regarding the Panama Papers. I think the Prime Minister clearly stated that we included historic amounts in our budget to support the Canada Revenue Agency's work. The commitment was even made during the election campaign, well before the Panama Papers became a hot topic or hit the media headlines across the country.
I want to address two points with you on a philosophical and intellectual level. You said you're not in favour of out-of-court settlements. As a lawyer, I can say the practice is common in the legal field, not only in Canada and not only for tax matters. Most disputes between individuals are settled out of court because that's the quickest way to resolve the cases. The practice exists in many cases involving the crown, whether the case is related to criminal or tax matters. It helps make courts more efficient, because establishing proof beyond reasonable doubt is obviously not always easy, especially in cases involving international issues, as you mentioned. I want you to elaborate on that first point.
The second point is this. I lived abroad for a number of years. I remember that, when I was in Europe, the European states had encouraged the return of capital to their jurisdictions. They said that, once the capital was back in their tax base, taxes could be imposed.