I agree 100% on that. We're talking about very low-income people.
You start getting into areas where there are more errors and the possibility of mistaken or fraudulent returns at higher income levels. We're talking about somebody putting in a phony charitable amount, for example. A low-income person can't benefit from a non-refundable credit because they don't make enough money to pay taxes.
The same is true for all the different types of deductions. For example, there are deductions somebody could get for child care or for putting money into an RRSP—there was an overcontribution or an incorrect contribution. If you're a low-income person, you don't get any money back because you don't pay tax in the first place. The same is true for the long series of non-refundable credits.
I agree with you completely on that point.