Public Accounts committee I see that Marc has the number.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Yes. We would have informed—
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Perhaps I'll turn to one of my colleagues, Marc Lemieux. He can explain in a bit more detail what we did there.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee I would say, yes, that was a decision that we took. You have to remember that—
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Yes, that's right. That would be our decision. We informed others, but you have to remember how this was set up. You only had to have that $5,000 income in the previous year or the most recent 12 months. We only had 2018 information, because people hadn't filed their 2019 form yet.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee That would be tax returns.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee There's no obviously easy way that I can think of. That's where the best source of information—
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee I don't know. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another way, but maybe there is one.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Also, in that year, if I could just add, the tax filing—
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Okay. I'm going to defer to Marc so that you can get a quick answer on how many more thousands we will have.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not sure how much time I have.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee That's fine. The first thing I would say is that we can do all of that. We have received a lot of resources over the recent years to battle tax evasion internationally and in Canada, and that's a big part of our agenda. We take that fairness and integrity agenda quite seriously, and we have resources to make sure that we ensure the integrity of the COVID benefits.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee That was a decision by the government, I think, approved in Parliament.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee I think it was well recognized that you would increase the risk. I don't usually talk about the advice I give to the government in public, but—
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton
Public Accounts committee —I think it is recognized that, if you take that kind of an approach, you are increasing risk and then you have to have a comfort with that or a plan to mitigate the risk.
February 2nd, 2023Committee meeting
Bob Hamilton