Thank you, Chair.
Good morning, everyone, again.
Auditor General, thank you for the series of reports. I've been able to go over all of them with a fine-tooth comb. I read the Investing in Canada plan last night and reviewed the CEWS report again this morning.
I think one thing coming out of the pandemic that we and every organization will do for sure is review systems and processes. I think of a supply chain for a company bringing products into Canada, whether it's a grocery store or manufacturing of any extent. I also think of an organization much like the Canada Revenue Agency, ESDC or the Department of Finance and their ability to deliver services—in this case, benefits—to Canadians during a pandemic. There are seven-odd programs that CRA has had to deliver to Canadians with, obviously, help on the design and format from other departments, such as the Department of Finance, ESDC and so forth.
Auditor General, when I look at your recommendations, I see recommendation 7.58, “To improve the integrity and validation efficiency of any future emergency programs, the Canada Revenue Agency should use automated validations with a unique identifier that can be used in all programs.”
Then I go to 7.68, which says, “In our view, this situation demonstrates the need for the agency to have sub-annual data and up-to-date earnings and tax data when it administers income support programs with eligibility criteria based on sub-annual earnings.”
When I think of that in this report, I look to two things. One is what's happening with the unique identifier program and the work that's being done there. The other is what's in our budget on page 311, “E-payroll to Help Businesses”.
I'm a forward-looking person in terms of where and how we improve our process and the information that's available to organizations, be they finance, CRA or ESDC. How important is it that we continue improving our processes with the unique identifier system—a unique identifier number, if I can call it that—and the development of e-payroll?
First I'll turn to the Auditor General, then to the CRA, then to finance, please.