Canadian advocacy efforts highlight TEI's strengths.

• Author: Penney, David M.
• Position: Tax Executives Institute - President's page

For more than a quarter century, TEI members from across Canada have travelled to Ottawa in December for the Institute's annual liaison meetings with officials from the Canadian government. As a member of the Toronto Chapter and a former chair of the Canadian Income Tax Committee, I have had the opportunity to participate in the meetings for many years. My perspective in attending our 2011 meeting as the Institute's President, however, was a bit different. Specifically, while clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of the Institute's advocacy efforts in Canada, the meetings more broadly serve as a model for TEI's efforts worldwide.

Liaison Meetings Illustrate the Value of Collaborative Tax Administration

There were four liaison meetings held in Ottawa: two with the Canadian Department of Finance (one on income tax issues and the other on commodity/GST issues) and two additional ones with the Canada Revenue Agency (with the same breakdown of topics). This year's meetings were organized by Dave Daubaras, the Institute's Vice President for Canadian Affairs, and the chairs of our Canadian Income Tax and Canadian Commodity Tax Committees--respectively, Carmine Arcari and Kim Berjian. Dave, like Carmine, is a member of the Toronto Chapter, but Kim hails from Calgary and the membership of the two committees--and, hence, our delegation to the meetings--comes from across the country.

The agendas for the Canadian liaison meetings are reprinted in this issue, and like nearly every successful venture, they are the product of teamwork: Members of the two Canadian committees submitted suggested topics, vetted them among themselves, and then--with the able assistance of TEI's legal staff--crafted our write-ups into a cohesive whole, which then was reviewed and approved by the Institute's 11-person Executive Committee. The committees divvied up responsibility for handling the various issues at the meetings, and as has been the case year after year, the Institute's representatives at the meetings were outstanding.

TEI's liaison meetings--indeed, all of the Institute's advocacy work--succeed because our members and staff are prepared; they are professional; they are practical. TEI's committees are passionate about "getting it right," but they are dispassionate and thoughtful in how they present their views and how they push for change. Through their actions both before and during the meetings, the participants epitomize the following TEI Standard of Conduct:

...