Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to James Tobin, one of the most influential economists of our time who passed away yesterday at the age of 84.
James Tobin won the Nobel prize in economics and belongs to a rare breed of economists who believed that economic policy must serve the common good. Tobin will be remembered for his vision of a tax on international currency transactions, the Tobin tax, which would have helped alleviate the devastating effects of financial speculation.
In Canada, James Tobin inspired the passage of Motion No. 239 in support of the Tobin tax which I had the honour to present to the House. The passage on March 23, 1999 of the Canadian motion, was a world premiere and sparked a global movement from parliamentarians, NGOs and civil society. The French parliament has recently taken the Canadian motion to a new level by amending the 2002 finance law to institute the Tobin tax once other countries in the European Union follow in step.
Thanks to James Tobin the world will eventually be a better place for all of us to live in.