Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House to talk about Bill S-2, an act to implement tax freebies with Kuwait, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Norway, Belgium and Italy for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Let me preface my remarks on the bill and the fact that the opposition will be supporting it by saying that there are some concerns the bill allows us to raise in the context of the direction we should take when it comes to taxation and the way the bill was introduced in the House.
We in the opposition always have had concerns with bills that are introduced through the Senate and then come to the House. We feel that the Senate, being unelected, lacks the legitimacy to address legislation prior to the House of Commons. More and more we find the government going that route to introduce bills relating to tax policy, and we have seen a few over the history of this government. Bills should be brought to the House so we can debate the merits first and then pass them on to the other place.
The parliamentary secretary talked about the importance of tax treaties and I would agree with him. He cited specifically that tax treaties tend to promote certainty, stability and cooperation among countries with which we engage in tax treaties. I would agree with that and so does the opposition.
However, I would take it one step further, especially as we start to enter into these forms of tax treaties. If the legislation had been introduced in the right place and had been given fair debate, Canadians and the House would have had the opportunity to compare our jurisdiction of taxes with those of other countries and see how we could create a more competitive environment to attract more business. We could also see if we were on par with other countries around the world.
It is no secret that Canada has one of the highest tax rates of industrialized nations, namely within the G-8 countries. That puts us at a great disadvantage when it comes to competing in the global economy we find ourselves in today.
I would go further than the parliamentary secretary and say that tax treaties would not only promote certainty and stability, but hopefully, by reducing overall taxes, would create a more competitive and attractive environment for businesses and people to consider Canada as a place to locate. Also, we would have a fairer tax system if we collected more taxes at home rather than the other way around. With tax rates being so high compared to those of other places, we lose our competitive disadvantage.
I would challenge the parliamentary secretary and the government to take it upon themselves to compare our tax system with those of other countries.
As was mentioned, the purpose of the bill is to ratify tax conventions agreed upon between Canada and the particular countries I mentioned. These agreements were set out to avoid double taxation between the representative nations and to establish a cooperative framework to prevent fiscal evasion. The Canadian Alliance has traditionally encouraged all measures to further equalize and liberalize foreign trade and investment. In this regard Bill S-2 is a positive measure. Nonetheless it was introduced in the Senate instead of the House of Commons.
When it comes to economic and fiscal themes, I would like to put on the record our party policy. The Canadian Alliance supports securing access to international markets through the negotiation of trade agreements. Our trade agenda would focus on diversifying both the products we sell abroad and the markets into which we sell these products. We would vigorously pursue the reduction of international trade barriers, tariffs and subsidies. We would work with international organizations that have relevant expertise to ensure the concerns of Canadians about labour practices, environmental protection and human rights are reflected.
We know that is done and reviewed on an ongoing basis, not only when it comes to tax policies, but on other facets as we engage in forming treaties and agreements with other countries. It is important that Canadians take some of our values and compare them with those around the world and share some of our experiences with countries that have challenges in some of the areas I mentioned. Hopefully we can influence some to change their ways or improve in certain areas. On the flip side, maybe we can learn from some of them.
Tax conventions, such as the ones to be implemented with Bill S-2, seek to arrange an agreement under which each government agrees to limit or modify the application of its domestic taxes to attempt to avoid double taxation. The parliamentary secretary spoke in detail about this issue.
The tax treaties that would be implemented by the bill reflect efforts to update and expand Canada's network of tax treaties so as to obtain results in conformity with current Canadian tax policy. These treaties are generally patterned on the model double taxation convention prepared by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Obviously, as the parliamentary secretary said, this is so that we do not have Canadians taxed on the same income or revenue for themselves doubly, whether in the country they currently reside in or work in and here at home.
Parts 1 to 4 of this enactment would implement tax treaties with Kuwait, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates and Moldova. Parts 5 to 7 of this enactment would implement the most recent tax treaties with Norway, Belgium and Italy. Parts 8 to 10 of this enactment would correct the English version of tax treaties with Vietnam, Portugal and Senegal which already have been enacted.
To conclude, notwithstanding the fact that the bill was introduced in the Senate, which is unelected and lacks the legitimacy to address legislation prior to the House of Commons, the Canadian Alliance will be supporting Bill S-2 as an initiative to expedite tax procedures for Canadians abroad, reduce tax evasion and focus CCRA resources on collecting taxes from Canadians living in Canada.