Finance committee  The main thing I would say is that a recent G-20 communiqué made some very clear points--that the best way to deal with the issue of tax havens, which are uncooperative tax regimes, is through transparency and through the conclusion of tax information exchange agreements. We are happy the Government of Canada has taken the bull by the horns and is trying to conclude tax information exchange agreements to add on to its already extensive list of tax treaties to try to improve that transparency and deal with the very issues you're talking about.

Finance committee  The challenge is we view it first and foremost as an administrative and reporting burden issue. Canada is the only G-7 country that does not allow some form of consolidated reporting or equivalent measures. As a consequence, if I am a multi-line company with multiple operating subsidiaries operating on an integrated basis, I need to file separate returns annually for each of these operating subsidiaries, notwithstanding the fact I am a single contiguous entity.

Finance committee  It really doesn't have a revenue impact in the long term. What it does do, though, is change the time that revenues will be realized. If I have a bunch of subsidiaries, I'm expecting them all to make money. It's just a matter of whether they make it now or next year or the year after.

Finance committee  Oh, yes.

Finance committee  As I said, all this would do is change the timeframe. Clearly, if I have losses in one year in a subsidiary, I can carry them forward, because I'm expecting this thing to make money at some point in the future. If I have it consolidated, I can offset one against the other. So in the long term, it doesn't really change the revenue.