Public Accounts committee  With respect to the senior advisory committee, we're an advisory committee to the Minister of Finance. There are five principals on this committee. This is not a huge, complex, cumbersome organization. We deal with whatever the members of this committee feel is important for the Minister of Finance and the financial sector at any moment in time.

Public Accounts committee  Generally speaking, I think the report was a glowing endorsement by the Auditor General of the regulation of the Canadian financial sector. I don't want to put words in the mouth of the deputy auditor general. We think it has been a good report and generally a good endorsement of how the sector has operated in Canada.

Public Accounts committee  Well, factually, interest rates and mortgage rates are among the lowest they have been historically, so I don't know that that is the case. It is true that the Government of Canada came in with extraordinary measures to help support the financial system in the midst of a world financial crisis, where interbank markets were tightening up.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's my pleasure to be here today. You have introduced my colleague, Madam Diane Lafleur, who is the general director of the financial sector policy branch in the Department of Finance. I am pleased to be here to discuss the Office of the Auditor General's report regarding regulating and supervising large banks.

Public Accounts committee  My only comment would be to thank the committee and as well to emphasize that from our point of view this is a very important issue and that it's important for Canadian taxpayers to have it resolved. The department is committed to doing its part to get it resolved.

Public Accounts committee  We are working on packages to put forward to the minister for his consideration for tabling in the House. The most immediate one is old Bill C-10, which, with some changes that we were proposing, could readily be reintroduced back into the House. That's about a hundred amendments.

Public Accounts committee  No, I have to agree with you. No one likes this situation of having these measures outstanding for 10 or 12 years. It's important for taxpayer certainty to have these issues resolved. We're looking at some of the suggestions that came from the Auditor General's office. There were practices, as I say, such as waiting until one technical bill was passed before introducing further things.

Public Accounts committee  Well, I think that's one of the reasons why we're actually considering not doing that anymore--or at least releasing some of these things while other things are in Parliament. There's a risk, though, of the confusion of amending the same possible amendments to the same pieces of the Income Tax Act, so that was the reason why we did not do that as a matter of practice in the past.

Public Accounts committee  I think the responsibility of the Department of Finance obviously is to put the government in the position to table technical bills that are required, and we have worked and are working in terms of doing that. I can't go beyond that in terms of laying blame on the political level or Parliament.

Public Accounts committee  Yes.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to present the Department of Finance's plan to address the recommendations contained in chapter 3 of the Auditor General's November 2009 report, entitled “Income Tax Legislation”. This audit involved both the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency, and I'm before you to discuss the actions of the Department of Finance.