I do not want to get into a debate with Ms. Hall Findlay. So, since we have experts here to help us today, I would ask them this.
I believe the finance minister wrote to his Panamanian counterpart to ask whether Panama was prepared to sign a tax information exchange agreement. Officials told the committee that nothing came of that request, that Canada's finance minister did not receive a response. So it went nowhere.
Then, Panama's deputy minister for international trade, along with the ambassador, told us that it was not in Panama's economic interest to sign the agreement requested by the Canadian government. Ms. Hall Findlay is telling us that they are interested in a double-taxation agreement that includes a section on the exchange of tax information. Does the section Ms. Hall Findlay is referring to, that is, the one on information exchange, do the same thing as the tax information exchange agreement sought by Canada's finance minister?
I would assume not, because Panama's deputy minister told us that such an agreement was not in his country's best interest. I am trying to wrap my head around this.