Andrew Treusch, Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Revenue Agency
Wednesday May 8, 2013 - Annual Mintz Economic Lecture - CRA’s Strategic Directions for Tackling Aggressive Tax Avoidance
The C.D. Howe Institute's Annual Mintz Economic Lecture was established in honour of Dr. Jack Mintz's outstanding achievements in the field of economic and tax policy. Dr. Mintz served as President and CEO of the Institute from 1999 through 2006. The lecture is supported by a dedicated endowment established by his friends and colleagues to commemorate his leadership of the Institute and contribution to Canadian public life.
We are pleased to host Andrew Treusch as the 2013 Annual Mintz Economic Lecture speaker, placing him in the excellent company of past Mintz Lecture speakers: Alan Auerbach, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, James R. Hines, William Gale, Michael Horgan, and Edward Glaeser.
In December 2012, Andrew Treusch was appointed Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA administers income, sales and other taxes; ensures compliance; and distributes benefit payments to millions of Canadians on behalf of governments across Canada.
In 2011-12, the CRA collected $419 billion in taxes and duties; issued 111 million benefit and credit payments totalling $21 billion; and recovered $40 billion in tax debt. The CRA has 39,000 employees working coast to coast across Canada.
Mr. Treusch was born in Saskatoon and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He received a B.A. (Honours) and M.A. degrees from the University of Manitoba in 1976 and 1978; his principal field of study was Political Studies. He began his Ph.D. at Queen's University in 1979 when he was selected as a Canadian Parliamentary Intern, which brought him to Ottawa.
Mr. Treusch’s career began with the Public Service of Canada in the early 1980s. He joined the Department of Finance in 1984, and then moved to the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development in positions of increasing responsibility. In 2007, Mr. Treusch was named Executive Director to the Competition Policy Review Panel, chaired by L.R. Wilson. The Panel’s mandate was to review competition and investment policies and to report to the Minister of Industry. The Panel’s report, “Compete to Win” was released in June 2008.
Mr. Treusch was appointed Associate Deputy Minister of Environment Canada in June 2008 and later Associate Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada in September 2009. Currently, Mr. Treusch serves on the Board of Trustees of the Public Service Management Insurance Plan, acts as the Government of Canada’s Federal Deputy Minister Champion for Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and is the First Vice-President and President-elect for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC).
The C.D. Howe Institute would like to thank OpenText Corporation for sponsorship of this year's Annual Mintz Economic Lecture.
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