That's the reason. You asked the question of me, and I'm answering that question. I move:
That, given ongoing media revelations that could implicate some Canadians in aggressive tax avoidance or tax evasion, the Committee invite Stephen Bronfman, Revenue Chair for the Liberal Party of Canada; and Leo Kolber, former Senator and former chief fundraiser for the Liberal Part of Canada, to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance
—here's where the difference comes in—
before November 25, 2017, to answer questions relating to their offshore assets in jurisdictions that are considered to be tax havens.
Mr. Chair, I understand if members want to shut down this debate, as they did the last one. I would just seek the opportunity to state very briefly why I think it's important.
In the public interest, related to the finance committee, the government claims it's in favour of tax fairness, yet it is favouring well-connected and wealthy insiders, allowing them to avoid paying their fair share of taxes while raising the tax burden on everyday Canadians. The fact that the government is fighting so furiously to keep this debate from happening, to shut it down before anyone can speak, demonstrates that it doesn't don't want any transparency in this particular area. The government members have not even given a single piece of rationale as to why they wouldn't want to have the debate if their party and their government have nothing to hide on the subject.
They said tax fairness was their number one priority. Then Mr. Dusseault put forward a motion that would allow them to prove it. I know the problem they had was with November 30, as opposed to November 25, which I put forward as a date.
Because it's such a priority of the government, maybe we should move the date forward rather than moving it to the 30th. Maybe the members across the way were so anxious to get started with this examination that they couldn't wait until November 30, so I'm giving them an alternative.
Thank you.