Finance committee  No, you sometimes preclude businesses from being able to participate in it, because the regulatory burden to participate costs more than the benefit they're going to get out of participating in the program. It's supposed to be there to help business, not hinder.

Finance committee  Of what to get rid of?

Finance committee  Yes, I was going to say we don't have enough time for me to give you a complete list—

Finance committee  —but I'll give you two. One, create a system of filing joint returns for families. That reduces the compliance burden and gets rid of a lot of other tax problems, such as attribution. Two, make mortgage interest tax deductible. You're already taxing the interest in the bank's hands.

Finance committee  I'm not certain that our report says get rid of it. What we're suggesting is that they're not as effective at providing the results of a competitive economy as tax cuts would be, because tax cuts could be spread over a much broader base.

Finance committee  For example, research and development--governments spend a lot of time and a lot of money in developing these programs. Many of them are industry-specific and not necessarily in tune with the way technology is being developed in the marketplace. It's over-burdensome.

Finance committee  You're talking about apples and oranges. I don't think anybody would argue that investment in education is not good, especially with the aging population Canada's facing. While I am sympathetic and empathetic to the plight of the colleges and universities, I also have an obligation on behalf of our association to look at a more global picture.

Finance committee  We've been conducting a number of studies over the past few years, and we're quite excited about one that's going to be announced and released on October 31. It's on business regulation. As a matter of fact, there's an economic news luncheon at the press club that I would invite you all to attend.

Finance committee  Actuarial valuations--

Finance committee  It's the process by which you determine what level of contribution is going to be necessary at present in order to provide benefits in the future. We don't know how well that is being conducted. It perhaps should be conducted by an independent board that is separate from the government, where we're talking about Canada Pension Plan.

Finance committee  CGA-Canada produced a report last year on an aging population and a lot of the problems that this country will face as a result of that. One of the elements of that report was that we have some very knowledgeable, skilled people in the workforce now who will be needed to help train the too-small labour population that's coming up.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair and members of the committee, on behalf of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada and our 68,000 members, we wish to thank you for this opportunity to appear before you and give voice to our thoughts and concerns regarding Canada's economic competitiveness, productivity, and prospects for growth.

Finance committee  In 1989 I moved to Canada. In 1990 I joined the CGA program and I became an accountant. In 1991 I became a quasi-tax collector, with the introduction of the GST. In 1998 I became a quasi-auditor for the government, due to the civil penalties and having to double-check everything my client does.

Finance committee  I serve you.

Finance committee  Serving the CRA in terms of the civil penalties means that if I have done my job properly in my initial service to you, then I'm not going to be concerned about being assessed with civil penalties. But if it is a grey area, a matter that's subject to judgment, and the CRA disagrees with us, that's what could potentially put me in a conflict of whether I'm serving the CRA or my client.