Thank you all for being here.
Minister, I want to start off by asking a question. My questions, frankly, will be similar to what I've asked in the past, because I am interested in the progress.
First off, regarding this committee's recommendations on tax evasion and tax avoidance, I want to thank you and acknowledge that you accepted all of this committee's recommendations. I look forward to seeing how that unfolds.
Specifically, I want to talk about the tax gap. I've raised this issue before. Previous to our government taking over and your being appointed minister of the CRA, Senator Downe had done a lot of work in regard to the tax gap. In the previous government, he had asked the PBO to bring forward the tax gap number: what is this number? Under the previous government, the CRA refused to work with the PBO and provide that information.
How can we tackle the issues of tax avoidance and tax evasion if we don't know how big the problem is? Are you doing anything or dealing with anything to finally release the information about the tax gap, so that we can properly assess the areas of tax evasion and tax avoidance?