Thanks.
I'm a little disappointed too that we don't have a CRA witness here when, for so many amendments, we're being told that it is the CRA's methods, the way they collect data and the way they interact with the Department of Finance that are the reasons why the the government is opposing these amendments.
Mr. Turnbull said that this is additional “red tape”, as he called it, which Conservatives oppose. It's certainly true that Conservatives oppose red tape, meaning regulations that harm businesses and drag on the economy. What we do support is transparency from the government. That's why we've moved a series of amendments that address transparency, because when a government makes everything about the announcement and when announcements are made with such fervent assertion about how a bill is going to affect policy and have outcomes, it's important to have the follow-up.
I was on the public accounts committee for several years, and the Auditor General repeatedly called out the government for its lack of data, so we're asking for the publication of data so that the stated efficacy of the policy that the government announces can be measured. That's why I support Mr. Hallan's amendment to require reporting.
The CRA is the largest department in the public service. I don't know what its current full-time equivalent count is. The last I knew, it was 57,000 full-time equivalents. It might be a little under that now. For a department that large, to be told that we can't get the information is disappointing. I support this amendment, and I'll vote for it.