Canadian liaison meetings--the epitome of getting involved.

• Author: Alicandri, Vincent
• Position: President's Corner

In mid-December I had the honor of leading TEI's delegation to four liaison meetings with government officials in Ottawa. These meetings, which date back more than three decades, are a manifestation of TEI at its best. Indeed--and I am not saying this just because I'm a Canadian--our Canadian liaison meetings are a shining example of why in-house tax professionals should become involved in the Institute's technical activities and how, by working together, members of the profession can accomplish more than they could by themselves. They also stand as an illustration that "no one has to do it all." Finally, they represent the embodiment of an effective government-industry partnership.

No single person deserves credit for the development and success of the Canadian liaison meetings. Certainly, I don't because the meetings were a mainstay of the Institute's advocacy program when I joined the Toronto Chapter 25 years ago. Rather, they have many fathers and mothers, and what made them valuable at the outset makes them valuable now. They provide TEI members with--

* the opportunity to candidly discuss and ideally resolve technical and administrative issues;

* the opportunity to discuss and request legislative amendments; and

* perhaps most important, the opportunity to strengthen our personal and professional connections through face-to-face discussion, not only with our government counterparts but with our peers from across the country.

The meetings with officials of the Canadian Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency (two meetings with each--one on income tax issues and the other to address customs and excise tax questions) were value-added because of the hard work and dedication of the people involved on both sides of the conference table. I mainly want to address the involvement and contributions of TEI members here, but I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge (and express the Institute's appreciation for) the efforts of personnel from the Department of Finance and CRA, who were involved in preparing for the meetings and drafting answers to our questions.

The agendas for the four liaison meetings are reprinted in this issue of the magazine. Even a cursory review of the documents confirms that they are at once meaty and balanced and, further, that they were not simply "thrown together" at the last minute. The process by which the agendas were developed is instructive. It begins months before the meetings (even before the dates...