Government Operations committee  I would prefer to consult with my colleagues at the CRA, as these numbers change all the time in terms of how many employees. I believe the last number I saw was 1.7 million, but I will get back to you. The program just opened for applications last Monday. It changes all the time

Government Operations committee  That's an excellent question. I think we have been operating very much in real time in terms of developing these programs as the situation has developed. We are looking at take-up, obviously. We're looking at the feedback we get. We speak to a lot of associations and companies to

Government Operations committee  I think it's working now. Did you not hear any of my response?

Government Operations committee  Yes. Normally people look puzzled when they can't hear me.

Government Operations committee  I apologize. The cost of the 75% wage subsidy is projected to be $73 billion. The original cost of the 10% was over $4 billion, but we have reduced that to $975 million because of the way the two measures work together, and since you can't have both, the cost of the 10% original

Government Operations committee  First of all, I think the challenge is that there is no kind of internationally accepted list regarding what is a tax haven. There are lists that various international organizations have established of non-co-operative jurisdictions, those that don't meet the standards of transpa

Government Operations committee  I can add to that at this time, Mr. Chair.

Government Operations committee  It's a very interesting question. I'd begin by saying, there's no playback, obviously this kind of crisis is unprecedented, and so on. If we take one example, the wage subsidy, we developed that obviously very quickly. Normally one would develop that over the basis of many months

Government Operations committee  The first program, the Canada emergency wage subsidy, the 10% one, applies to all small businesses, at least those businesses eligible for the small business deduction, as well as charities and non-profit organizations. All of those businesses are eligible for it. The mechanism o

Government Operations committee  I am perhaps not the best person to speak to this, but I will try to answer the question. In our report to the finance committee, we outlined the amounts dedicated to the areas the member alluded to. The report says that the total amount is $4.4 billion. The largest amount ther

Government Operations committee  I don't have that information, but perhaps we can endeavour to find out what information is available and provide it to the committee.

Government Operations committee  Perhaps I could take that one, Mr. Chair. That's a difficult question. I mean, you can look at it in different ways. If you gave, say, $2,000 to the almost 30 million tax filers, then the mathematics—I can't work that out in my head—it's an awful lot every month if it were $2,00

Government Operations committee  With your permission, I'll turn that question over to my colleague Alison.

Government Operations committee  The whole issue of tax evasion and tax avoidance is one on which the government has taken a number of important steps. Probably most importantly, recognizing that this is truly an international challenge, we work closely with the OECD and others in building an international archi

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, I am the senior assistant deputy minister of the tax policy branch at Finance. Let me make some very brief opening remarks. First, thank you to the committee for the invitation to appear today to answer questions. As you know, the department has been busy supporting