Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see a government member has finally directly addressed the official opposition's proposal for a taxpayer bill of rights.
The hon. member mentioned the current declaration of taxpayer rights introduced in 1985 by then Minister Beatty. Would he not agree with me that this declaration has not statutory force, no sanctions and is merely a declaration of intent? Would he not also agree the entrenchment of such rights to due process would be preferable?
He points out that it is not efficient to incorporate this into the actual revenue agency legislation. Would he not agree that it would be worth considering adopting a separate piece of legislation to incorporate the kinds of rights that now merely exist on paper in the form of a declaration?