Mr. Chair, the GAAR, or the general anti-avoidance rule, is a provision that we use when we think the spirit or the intent of the legislation has been taken too far. It's a role we take very seriously. We have what we call a GAAR committee, with representatives from the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice, and the CRA. When an auditor identifies a potential scheme where the GAAR would apply, it's referred to this committee and it goes through a thorough vetting process to ensure that the rules are applied very consistently and methodically.
Once a GAAR is applied, basically the tax benefits the taxpayer was trying to achieve by entering into this particular tax planning arrangement are denied. It's not a penalty, but basically the taxpayer is not able to enter into that tax transaction and get benefits.