Madam Speaker, certainly the Bloc motion is not a motion that I will be supporting at all and for two important reasons. First, the motion says that Canada should play a lead at the international level in activities to eliminate tax havens. Of course, Canada is playing a lead in doing just that. In fact, Canada is very much a party to the OECD harmful tax competition exercise and Canada was at the forefront of this initiative.
While it is true that there is a worrisome flow of money or of funds of income around the developed world to tax havens, it is not true that Canada is not part of the exercise to combat that. In fact, the Government of Canada is playing a leadership role.
When I was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, I was at a number of sessions where Canada was at the forefront of putting our case forward that we needed to deal with tax evasion and funds that were finding their ways to tax havens.
The argument now has become more of increased transparency. When authorities in Europe, the United States and Canada have a suspicion that a Canadian taxpayer is evading Canadian tax, perhaps the tax haven would be more forthcoming with information so that the tax authorities can check that out. I must say that we are making progress on that front.
The second part of the motion that is faulty talks about a tax convention with Barbados. The reason for a tax convention is to avoid double taxation. We have many Canadian companies that work and operate in Barbados. If it is the case, and it is the case, that Barbados is a low tax environment, then if companies are paying low or limited taxes in Barbados, then they are not going to get much relief from that, but they are not going to be double taxed. That is the purpose of the convention.
The member for Drummond cited an example where a company would take out a loan and deduct the interest in Canada against tax payable. Of course, interest is a deductible expense in Canada and so it should be. However, if that company were to take the money and put it into a tax haven, that income would be taxable under Canadian tax laws.
In fact, that is why the government put in the reporting requirements, so that individuals and corporations would have to report world income in a more structured, cohesive and sounder way. That is why the government is pursuing that and being vigilant to ensure that Canadian taxpayers, whether they be corporations or individuals, report their world income and are taxed in Canada, irrespective of whether the income was derived in a tax haven.
I wonder why it is that the member would be concerned about a convention with Barbados when it is a low tax regime and that Canadian companies operating there would get very little relief from the taxes they pay in Barbados because they are not paying much there?