I do not understand why the Liberals are not applauding me this morning, when what I am saying is a self-evident truth.
I think it is normal for the opposition parties, including the Bloc Quebecois, which are seeking the greatest equity for the people of Quebec and Canada, to try to get legislation that is as free of flaws as possible. We want to remedy those flaws. These two examples, I think, are striking. What is involved here is not to have huge quantities of international tax conventions. We just want to have quality tax conventions so that there can be proper follow-up and everyone can pay his or her fair share of tax.
Earlier, the government member, the hon. member for Broadview—Greenwood, was criticizing Reform members. He was accusing them of giving up on tax reform.
I understand why he did not say this about the Bloc Quebecois, because we have been talking about tax reform for a long time for both corporations and individuals.
If we look more specifically at this morning's topic, international tax conventions, I can refer you to two proposals made by us in the fall of 1996 focusing on corporate taxation.
This could have been included in international treaties as part of a mini-tax reform. It did not have to be a major reform, but they could at least have shown some degree of good faith in ensuring that it is not always the same ones who have to pay. I believe that a certain equity must be sought, and I can understand the taxpayers who are sitting in their living rooms and watching the government members over there. They are saying that the same ones always end up paying, and I understand that.
The government has thus missed a great opportunity to show its good faith with this bill. One of the proposals made by the Bloc Quebecois in the fall of 1996 is the deductibility of interest charges. When a Canadian company has a branch in a tax haven, not only does it first of all take advantage of very low tax rates on profits earned outside the country, but it can also deduct from its income earned in Canada the interest on loans used to invest in that offshore branch. We think the tax system is too generous in this case.
We would also have liked the government to amend the Income Tax Act to put a stop to this abuse. I think everyone has got the point, but so people understand better, I will give you a specific example. I have a company in Barbados; I borrow money in Canada to invest in Barbados to increase my profits in Barbados; I pay practically no taxes in Barbados, but, moreover, I deduct my interest costs in Canada. This is a bit crazy. I think the government could help people by putting a stop to these tax shelters.
The other proposal—and I will be brief, because time is passing quickly—concerns the deduction for intercorporate dividends. When a Canadian company has a subsidiary in a country Canada has a convention with, the dividends paid by the subsidiary to the parent company are not taxed in Canada. There are certain conditions, but they are easily met. This Canadian rule is much more generous than what is done in the States.
We asked the federal government to amend the Income Tax Act in order to tax foreign subsidiaries in Canada and to give a credit to them for tax already paid. That did not come about, but you know how determined the Bloc is. When we have an idea we do not let go of it, especially when it is a good idea like Quebec sovereignty and income tax issues. We will continue, we will keep at the government and perhaps soon, the government will concede as it did with Bill C-10 on the tax convention between Canada and the United States.
I repeat, and I conclude on this point, this was a real battle horse for the Bloc. We won. We were there for our constituents and we will be there again, every day, until Quebec becomes a country.