Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for being here this afternoon and answering our questions.
I would like to quote Debi Daviau, the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the PIPSC, who appeared before finance committee in early May.
Ms. Daviau stated at the time that the CRA used to have “international tax units that were very well organized and could work together more effectively to produce...documents [from an offshore tax filer], but those units were broken down some 10 or so years ago in favour of interspersing these tax experts within more generalized teams. That has reduced the capacity of employees at the CRA to be able to deliver on getting international tax avoiders to pay their fair share.”
Since these budget cuts to the CRA...and we've already heard in this meeting this afternoon that the federal government has invested over $1 billion in the CRA to restore its capacity in this regard. Can you comment on how recent funding from past federal budgets has helped repair the CRA's capacity to fight offshore tax avoidance? Can you share your thoughts on any additional funding or resources that would be required to completely restore these specialized international tax units?