Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I would like to thank the clerks for conducting the sound tests of the witnesses for the welfare of the interpreters and reporting back at the beginning of the meeting.
I will now make a small comment. In Canada, there are two official languages. The government could ask departments to make their presentations in both languages. Again, all the presentations have been in English only. Often, the presentations are read. They could therefore be made half in French and half in English. The language of Molière should be heard in these statements, in order to reflect the diversity of the two official languages. I hope the government will hear this message.
My first question is for the Department of Finance officials and relates to paragraph (p) of part 1 described in the summary of the bill. This paragraph is intended to provide “that the general anti-avoidance rules can apply to transactions that affect tax attributes that have not yet been used to reduce taxes;”
Since when is the government aware of tax planning that circumvents the general anti-avoidance rule by using tax attributes that have not yet been used to reduce taxes?