Mr. Speaker, I totally agree with the hon. member for Joliette that they are setting themselves apart from all Canadians.
It is absolutely clear that through this kind of practice we have a double standard. On the one hand the government is saying that Canadians should abide by the laws of the land but if they are a little late in paying their taxes we can be sure they will be nailed immediately and forced to pay penalties. Yet big corporations and people with wealth and influence, like the former finance minister, are allowed to break the laws of this country and operate in an area that is clearly unethical if not illegal. This causes all kinds of problems in terms of people's beliefs and faith in a system that should be fair for all.
This issue is important in terms of lost revenue. We know that billions of dollars have been lost in these tax havens. We also know from project loophole that $700 million was lost because of one deal alone. We also know that the last big initiative by the former minister of finance was a $100 billion tax cut which largely benefited the wealthy and big corporations in Canada today.
If we put it all together we have a system that is skewed, a system that is biased and a system that does not restore people's confidence in it as an equitable, fair system. We also have a lot of lost revenue that destroys the government's ability to do its job of meeting the basic needs of Canadians to ensure that we have an equitable society where everyone in this country has access to health care when they need it, housing when they need it, where farmers can get the support they need in the event of a crisis like mad cow disease, and where cities can have the resources they need to provide basic services for Canadians who desperately want to contribute back to society.
The member for Joliette is absolutely right. We have to stand together and resolve this issue once and for all.