Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the work you do. I'm glad you could be here to talk about this today.
I'm going to start with the common reporting standard and work my way backward.
The common reporting standard has come under a fair bit of scrutiny by various groups, particularly the credit unions, in that it imposes a one-size-fits-all regime. We all obviously want to keep the integrity of our tax system and align with other jurisdictions, but unlike the FATCA regulations that were brought into place a few years ago, where there was a risk-based assessment of 2%, these common reporting standards are actually slightly different. They require a slightly different bit of information to be sent on, and there is no risk-based assessment. All credit unions, regardless of size, have to comply.
I have the Summerland Credit Union in my riding, with a staff of about 10, and this actually seems to be quite an onerous process.
Could you please address why the law was written in such a way so as not to allow the same treatment as under FATCA?