Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to take a bit of my speaking time to give notice of the following motion:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study on the carousel tax fraud scheme that international criminal networks are using to collect tax refunds for GST/QST and steal hundreds of millions of dollars from Canadian government coffers; That this study focus in particular on the following points: a) the reasons why Canada appears to be an easy target for this type of fraud; b) identifying and understanding the gaps in Canada’s tax system that make this type of fraud possible and easy to commit; and c) measures that should be taken by the government and the CRA to put an end to these scams and to reclaim taxpayers’ money; That the Committee invite the following witnesses to appear: 1) Appearing together for a period of two hours, former CRA Minister Diane Lebouthillier and current CRA Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, accompanied by senior CRA officials; 2) For one hour, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland; 3) For two hours each, Marius-Cristian Frunza, an expert in carousel fraud, and Bo Elkjær, a Danish journalist who has been investigating this type of fraud in Europe since 2009; 4) For one hour, Samer Bishay, the CEO of Ontario telecommunications company Iristel; and 5) Any other witnesses the Committee deems necessary; That the Committee allocate a minimum of four meetings to this study; and That the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.
Mr. Chair, I would like to use my remaining 55 seconds to ask the witnesses a question.