Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Indeed, this gives me the opportunity to talk more specifically and quickly about schemes that are available to Canadian taxpayers who want to avoid their tax obligations. They ensure that those who, like us, do not have a choice or abide by the spirit of the law, pay more.
For example, I will give you a very simple trick and I will not make you pay anything for this. You take some money to the United States, go to a casino in Las Vegas and pretend that you lost your money. You give that money to a broker who invests it in a tax haven and you do not pay taxes on the gains that you will make. Anybody can pull this trick.
There are schemes that are a little more sophisticated, but not that much more. This is in the report of the Auditor General. The ownership of a Canadian private company is held by a trust that resides in Barbados. The capital gain on the sale of the shares is subject to Canadian tax because the shares are taxable Canadian assets. The trust sells the shares and asks for the exemption from Canadian tax provided for in the agreement. The capital gain is not taxed in Barbados. This is legal.
Currently, there are holes in the act and the convention with Barbados does not pass muster. If the future prime minister were consistent, he would champion the motion that I moved.