Thank you, Chair. In dealing with the committee business that we have put forward, we have a few items. We know that Bill C-4 is still continuing on. It is a reminder that the ways and means has been passed, so there's nothing holding back the tax cut from happening. It's already happened, because the ways and means motion was passed for housing and the consumer carbon tax, thanks to the Conservatives, and the pressure has been taken off Canadians.
While we're collaborating here, and in the spirit of collaboration, I'd like to bring forward a motion that incorporates both Bill C-4, so that we can get that passed out of this committee, and another really pressing issue that's taken a lot of resources out of Canada but is also very concerning due to the alarming rate at which it's increasing. I'll read the motion—it's long—and we'll email it to the clerk:
That the committee immediately undertake a study of Bill C-4, an act to make life more affordable for Canadians, and that for the purposes of this study:
a. the committee invite the following witnesses to appear for one hour each on separate panels:
1. the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, as the sponsor of the bill;
2. the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, in relation to part 2; and
3. the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, in relation to part 3;
and that each minister appear for one hour on separate panels and be permitted to be accompanied by departmental staff;
b. the chair be permitted to schedule a meeting for clause-by-clause consideration of the bill only after all of the ministers listed above have appeared as requested;
c. the committee invite additional stakeholders it deems appropriate and hold a minimum of two meetings to receive their testimony; and
d. immediately following the conclusion of the study, and once the bill has been reported back to the House, the committee undertake a subsequent study on the use of offshore tax havens, given that Canada's weak rules on offshore subsidiaries, tax treaties and limited enforcement by the Canada Revenue Agency have made our country both a conduit and a destination for tax avoidance, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenue each year and inviting white-collar crime into Canada, and that, for the purposes of this study, the committee hold no fewer than six meetings and invite the following witnesses:
1. officials from the Department of Finance;
2. officials from the Canada Revenue Agency;
3. the Parliamentary Budget Officer;
4. representatives from law enforcement agencies with expertise in financial crimes;
5. tax policy experts; and
6. any other witnesses the committee deems relevant.
That's the motion that I'd like to put forward.
The reason this is important is that the Conference Board of Canada estimates that tax evasion and avoidance costs the federal government $8.9 billion to $47.8 billion each year. Tax fairness advocates and even CRA whistle-blowers have raised concerns that Canada's weak rules on offshore subsidiaries and tax treaties and limited enforcement by CRA have made our country both a conduit and a destination for tax avoidance.
We've seen the Liberal crime wave and weak enforcement of anti-money laundering rules that also don't help. We've had officials testify at this committee that even though they catch the people either laundering money or committing these crimes, the enforcement is not there. Not only that, but this ties into the fact that the Liberals have dragged their feet for two years on the review of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act as well, even though two years ago, then finance minister Chrystia Freeland wrote to this committee to have that review done, as well as a review of the Bank Act, which needs to be updated.
Crime is getting more and more sophisticated, and with the Liberals dragging their feet on this important review, Canada cannot keep up with that sophistication of crime. The officials do not have the tools and are not able to keep up with what we need. More importantly, the enforcement of it—the rules, the fines and the update to the Criminal Code—needs to be done so that those who are committing these crimes get punished for them. These are big numbers, costing $8.9 billion to $47.8 billion each year. Canada also still hasn't prosecuted anyone for their involvement in the Panama papers or the Paradise papers.
That ties into the Liberals' soft-on-crime policies that won't punish those who are avoiding tax, evading tax or committing these crimes.
The CRA “has identified more than $76 million in taxes owed by Canadians named in the Panama and Paradise Papers”. How can Canadians...and how are the government workers who are supposed to enforce tax rules supposed to take their job seriously when the Prime Minister has been involved in tax havens himself? When he was chair of Brookfield, he used offshore tax havens in Bermuda to stash his company's profits beyond the reach of the CRA.
For the Liberals, there's a two-tier tax code. One is for the rich, like the Prime Minister and his friends, and one is for the rest of us. While we double-check our tax returns to make sure we don't make a mistake and end up getting audited, the Prime Minister's friends dodge taxes while his government taxes us more to make up the difference. While the CRA and the government let this go on, the CRA writes off over $5 billion in corporate taxes and then goes after small businesses and charities instead.
We Conservatives included in our platform a commitment to closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and well connected, like this Prime Minister. We committed to redirecting CRA resources away from harassing small businesses and charities, instead focusing on cracking down on offshore tax havens. We committed to creating a name-and-shame list for wealthy multinational corporations that are dodging taxes and refusing to pay their fair share. Just last week, our colleague, Conservative MP Adam Chambers, introduced a PMB in the House that would create a sunshine list exposing corporations who get CRA tax write-offs.
These are good policies, but we need to hear from more experts on how to address the gaps in enforcement and legislation. Canadians are struggling now more than ever with the cost of living, the debt burden and the rising crime under the last 10 years of the Liberals. Closing the tax loopholes that allow for avoidance and the use of tax havens will save Canadian taxpayers from higher taxes and could prevent even larger deficits.
This study gives an opportunity for this committee to show Canadians that we believe in fairly enforcing tax rules and not letting wealthy, connected people and Liberal insiders get favourable tax treatment. This is a way for Canada to get serious. Canada has become a playground for criminals. It's become more and more known around the world, under soft-on-crime Liberal policies, that Canada is the place to be if you're a criminal. There are more rights for criminals, and we've seen that under the soft-on-crime policies.
I hope we can get this passed. As I said, it incorporates Bill C-4, and we want to get through Bill C-4. As I said before, there's nothing holding back those tax credits, because they were already passed in the House through the ways and means motion, but if we need to hear from witnesses and from officials and ministers, then this gives us an opportunity to do that quickly to get it out of this House. Then we can move on to the tax evasion and tax haven study.
Thank you.