Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear the member talk about the actions that the government has taken. He speaks highly of what the CRA has done, so maybe he would like to answer the question with regard to why it would be cutting 200 positions in the next 3 years at the CRA.
Instead of releasing transparent figures and increasing resources for recovering tax revenue, the Conservatives are cutting back on the CRA investigators. Again, why would they cut 200 positions?
Let us look at this. One recent study found that Canada's big five banks avoided paying $16 billion in income taxes between 1992 and 2008. We cannot turn a blind eye to that. Again, as my leader had indicated, we just have to look at phase one of our plan in order to restore tax fairness and to ensure that wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share.
Why will the government not look at transparency, enforcement and tougher regulations?