Finance committee  Even today, the use of advance tax rulings is quite rare. It is something that we don't engage in very frequently. It tends to take a lot of time. It tends to be a fairly costly process. Clearly, in the time when this plan was developed, 1999, that would not have been a standard thing for us to do.

Finance committee  Yes, that will all be part of the settlement privilege, and I can't get into that particular part of the investigation, unfortunately.

Finance committee  Yes, he is. He's a partner with us.

Finance committee  I don't think I know the specific dates.

Finance committee  I don't think I know the specific—

Finance committee  I believe he was hired five years ago, but I can get back to you on that. It might be six.

Finance committee  Sure, it's the easiest way to do it. Thank you.

Finance committee  That would be part of the whole settlement discussion, which is an area I just can't get into, unfortunately.

Finance committee  I don't know the answer to that but I will say that I'm very proud of our track record with our clients and with the CRA. There are always disputes that occur between the tax authorities and taxpayers, as you know, but our track record with CRA in dealing with tax matters with our clients is something I'm very proud of, very proud of.

Finance committee  Yes, we have 1,400 tax professionals within KPMG here in Canada, and I wouldn't hazard to guess how many people they have employed at CRA, but there are lots of interactions.

Finance committee  You know, the way the Canadian tax system would work, there would be hundreds of conversations a day between our clients, as taxpayers, and the CRA, so it happens on a very routine basis. Whether they are large clients or small clients, it's something that's daily.

Finance committee  That's fairly rare. Tax Court cases overall are fairly rare. I think there are something like 80,000 notices of objection filed each and every year by taxpayers who dispute what the CRA has suggested is the right answer, from a tax perspective. I think, in total, there's something like only 3,400 Tax Court cases in progress right now.

Finance committee  I don't have the numbers, unfortunately, for the U.S. I do know that the way our system needs to work, and does work, in a self-assessing system is that taxpayers are expected to self-assess, CRA is expected to do their job and review the particular aspects of their tax filings.

Finance committee  You're welcome.

Finance committee  That's exactly the point of the court case that is before the Federal Court. It is our view that it's our responsibility to keep our client affairs private. We take that responsibility very seriously. It's a responsibility from a KPMG perspective. Frankly, it's a professional obligation we have as CPAs in Canada to keep our client information private.