All right, thank you.
The issue of using tax havens to hide money or evade taxes is of great concern. The people and firms that use them act with little regard for their duties and obligations to society. Their attitude also seems to show little regard for the Canada Revenue Agency, the government and Parliament. It is high time that this changed.
The committee spent several hours on this issue, and in particular on the KPMG strategies and the theft of the savings of thousands of small savers in the Weinberg, Norshield and Mount Real scandal. Four shell companies with sword names—Shashqua, Katar, Sceax and Spatha—registered in the Isle of Man, were allegedly used in the theft. Disturbing information appears to link these four corporations to KPMG, although KPMG claims otherwise. The purpose of today's meeting is to shed light on these four corporations by directly questioning those who know the background to this dirty business.
The committee invited Ms. Sandra Georgeson and Ms. Anne Couper Woods to testify. Both have been employed by KPMG and are part of the management teams of the four corporations with sword names. They know the background of the case. Ms. Georgeson is the person who wrote the email that states that KPMG Canada helped set up the four corporations. Ms. Georgeson was invited to the May 6 meeting. She declined the invitation, citing a scheduling conflict. She also declined today's invitation and any future appearance. Ms. Couper Woods did not agree to appear before the committee, either. Since these ladies are not Canadian citizens, the committee was unable to subpoena them.
We also invited Mr. Michael Morris, who is a member of the management team at Shashqua, along with Ms. Woods and Ms. Georgeson. Mr. Morris also allegedly helped Mr. Weinberg transfer the stolen money out of Canada. Mr. Morris is a Canadian citizen who lives in Nassau and runs Barrington Bank International. To obtain his contact information, the committee contacted his brother, Toronto lawyer Ian Morris. Following a subpoena to appear before the committee, we received a letter of refusal from Mr. Michael Morris' lawyer. This is unacceptable.
We also invited and subpoenaed Ms. Susan Gibbons, a Canadian citizen working in Bermuda, who was a member of the board of directors of Katar, Spatha and Sceax. We also subpoenaed her boss, Mr. William Maycock, who was also named as a person who made the transfers of funds from these three corporations. Mr. Maycock was educated in Halifax and Hamilton and was a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation. Both of them responded to us, through their lawyer, saying that they refused to come to testify today, despite the subpoena. This is equally unacceptable.
I would like to recall that the invitations and subpoenas stipulated the possibility of joining the committee by videoconference. Distance is not a reasonable ground for their refusal.
So there are five key witnesses, who know the substance of the case, who refuse to cooperate. Three of them, although they are Canadian citizens, have even refused a subpoena. This makes the work of the committee exceedingly difficult and is, in my view, a matter of contempt. Things will not stop there.
It also indicates how important it is that the minister should call a public enquiry into this whole affair. She has the power to do so.
I sincerely hope that the committee's work will help to build greater tax justice.