Madam Speaker, I will answer the hon. member's question as follows, using information and recommendations that came from the Auditor General of Canada between 1992 and 1999, Mr. Desautels, and from the current Auditor General, Sheila Fraser. It is not me who says this. It is the auditors general who sounded the alarm over the use of tax havens by Canadian businesses and the impact of such practices on the tax burden of Canadians.
In 1998, the Auditor General returned to the problem of tax havens, pointing out that Canada was not allocating enough resources to fight tax avoidance. He alluded, among other things, to the increasing use of tax havens and to the growing number of bilateral income tax conventions.
The Auditor General gave this warning to the government:
Failure to take urgent action on these matters will severely limit Revenue Canada's ability to manage the risks to Canada's tax base that international transactions represent.
In 2001, the Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, identified Barbados in particular as a country where numerous schemes allowed tax evasion. She said:
The Agency has identified 53 examples of this scheme that have moved over $800 million in capital gains to Barbados from Canada. It is currently examining this scheme to determine if it can be challenged successfully.
Nothing has changed. In another scheme, a company residing in a tax haven owned aCanadian company. When the shares of the Canadian company were sold,any capital gain realized would be subject to Canadian income tax. Thecompany shifted its residence from the tax haven to Barbados and claimed a Canadian tax exemption on the capital gain.
Duringthis audit, the Auditor General saw one transaction that the CCRA challenged successfully,recovering over $50 million in tax, although the total owed was $800 million.
In her report, she also stated:
Tax avoidance schemes may also take advantage of other treaties.
Anumber of years ago, the CCRA identified schemes involving other taxtreaties to which Canada was signatory. The schemes allowed capital gains toescape Canadian tax under certain conditions.
The Auditor General also makes a recommendation to the minister responsible for the CCRA, stipulating that the agency shouldcontinue to be vigilant in ensuring that tax treaties are not usedinappropriately to reduce Canadian tax and, if necessary, should seeklegislative or treaty changes to protect Canada’s tax base.
The Bloc Quebecois is not the only one saying this; the auditors general do too. They are transparent and demand the same transparency from the government in order to make major changes to tax treaties and tax havens, where the wealthiest companies do not pay tax.
There are two categories. The wealthiest, who can use tax loopholes and thereby deprive Canada of income, are in one category, and the poorest who, consequently, are victims of the government, which slashes social programs, are in the other. The former are better treated. A blind eye is turned, and people are told that Canada is doing its fair share and that this is not happening. Everyone denies that this kind of problem exists.
Today, we are once again speaking out against it; we want those opposite to realize that these are serious problems, that it is a serious threat, that there is no transparency and that the future Prime Minister will not be the one to change things, because he has greatly profited and continues to profit from interest that should go to the Canadian taxpayers.