Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Koutrakis.
I can speak to the potential cost savings for Quebec. Even the Robillard commission, which the Quebec government established under former premier Couillard, estimated that Quebec would save $398 million annually if the federal government, in other words, the CRA, were to administer the tax regime.
It's pretty straightforward. The federal system is in place across the country. The other nine provinces opted to turn over tax administration to the CRA for one reason, and it wasn't that the CRA asked nicely; the arrangement was very much in their favour. The federal government does not bill the provinces for doing the work on their behalf. The CRA already administers taxes for the federal government, so it administers taxes for the provinces as well. The CRA sends the money to the provinces. You may not know this, but even for uncollectible accounts, the CRA pays the province and absorbs the loss. That's something people don't realize. Being a CRA tax recovery officer at heart, I can tell you that.
Therefore, Quebec could save a lot of money by having the federal government administer the tax regime. What's more, when the federal or provincial portion of taxes is recovered, the province's portion is collected before the federal government's.
All that to say there are many good reasons why Quebec would hand over tax administration to the federal government. Politically speaking, it's a different story, so I won't go there. Fiscally, however, it's a no-brainer.