Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, for that very important question because I actually never addressed that in my remarks. I ran out of time but I had many more things to say.
Tax evasion is not addressed in this legislation because it is a possibility that many Canadians have a lot of flexibility in terms of accessing sophisticated offshore companies. Trusts and bank accounts can be set up in places like the Bahamas, which I mentioned earlier. Canada's chartered banks all offer banking services and tax savings, with most services offered in the Caribbean and Switzerland. Money that is in an offshore tax haven is not only out of reach of Revenue Canada, it is also safe from creditors.
In my remarks earlier I said that the reason it is not in the bill, I suspect, is because the government's very wealthy friends do not want it to be in the legislation. One example of why I say that is the Bronfmans. They had a trust account in this country which was set up under legislation created by the Liberals in the 1970s on a 20 year term. It was extended by the Conservative government for a number of extra years. When the term was coming to an end and they had to actually pay taxes on the trust account, the Liberals encouraged and gave permission for the Bronfmans to transfer this multibillion dollar trust account outside of the country, thereby avoiding taxes in Canada.
It is estimated that we lose about $1 billion a year on tax evasion. That one transaction that the Liberals undertook, encouraged and allowed the Bronfmans to undertake, cost us about $750 million in lost taxes on one transaction. I think the estimate of $1 billion is really out to lunch.
The bottom line is that the reason tax evasion is not in the bill is because the wealthy friends of the Liberals, the wealthy powerful corporations who support the Liberals, do not want it in here. Guess who pays the piper?