Mr. Speaker, we now know that as many as 20 per cent of international transactions involving Canadian companies involve the use of offshore tax havens. This means that as much as $60
billion in one year flows between Canadian companies and foreign affiliates without being reported to Revenue Canada. And banks we are told are among the worst offenders. Imagine, corporate tax evaders and banks which dodge the law.
What is most disappointing about this story though is not the tax dodgers employed by the corporate elite. After all, we have been talking about that issue for years. What is most disappointing is that the government has known for years about this problem-the report was compiled in 1991-yet it has mustered little more than a lame response.
Canadians are tired of paying more taxes, receiving fewer services, watching the banks and big resource companies have their best times ever while paying lower taxes or even dodging them altogether.
It is time the government acted on behalf of those Canadians who pay taxes and pay the freight. It is time the government closed the loopholes on its wealthy corporate friends, just as New Democrats have been saying for some time now.