It is not true. Both the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on Finance have held public hearings on this issue. Tax experts who had conducted an extensive review of this case told us that our public officials were fair and had the right to give what is called an advanced tax ruling. According to these experts, who hail from the private sector and work in this complicated and difficult area, our employees had the right to act as they did.
But despite all of this, I want to point out that, after being made aware of the situation, the government reacted very quickly. It agreed with the proposals made by the Standing Committee on Finance to create in Canada one of the toughest tax systems where immigration is concerned.
We have heard a lot of lies in this House and everywhere else about family trusts. Let my give you an example of a lie I heard today. Someone said that it was the Liberal government under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, in 1970, that came up with the idea of family trusts. That is not true. Family trusts have existed since the 17th century. They have always existed to help families, farmers, people-