Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also thank everyone who worked very hard on the fall economic statement and the measures that are in Bill C‑32. I know what an extraordinary job this is and that it is done every year, both in terms of budgets and economic statements. I take my hat off to you for all your good work.
My question will be directed primarily to officials in the Department of Finance and will focus on measures regarding the general anti-avoidance rule.
I congratulate you on making a very important change. However, there are other measures that have not been taken into account.
You will remember that at this committee we invited Professor Brian Arnold. He advised us and we transmitted these recommendations through our committee.
There are a lot of proposals there that are not in this bill.
I'm also aware that you did a consultation between August 9 and September 30, which is good. I think it was the right thing to do to talk to stakeholders about that. We wanted to achieve the right balance between having a fair tax system and a tax system that gives certainty and allows taxpayers to arrange their affairs to minimize their tax burden. At the same time we want integrity and we cannot have aggressive tax planning that has no economic substance continue to erode our tax base, especially at a time when Canadians are making so many efforts to weather the inflation phenomenon.
Where are you in the consultation and will you provide amendments to the tax benefit avoidance transaction? I know the consultation paper stated that the government intends to add an explicit economic substance rule, but also, the GAAR has no penalty, which, in itself, doesn't really incentivize taxpayers to be respectful of the integrity of the tax system.
My question is for the Department of Finance. What is the status of the consultation? Hopefully, we can see progress and further enhance the GAAR.