Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé for his question and the examples he gave us. Indeed, the money not paid in taxes under the tax treaty with Barbados is paid by others. As a result, we do not have adequate services. We can list the cuts made by the Conservative government over the past year in a number of areas, including the court challenges program, programs concerning women's groups or different parts of our society that need these types of services. There lies the answer.
For this year, the federal government will probably fail to collect $800 million in taxes. This $800 million would go a long way. Some of it could go toward lowering taxes and some of it could be used to reinstate services that have been cut. This would be an important gesture and it is a very good illustration of the current balance in Canadian taxation. There is a major problem with the tax treaty with Barbados and the solution is simple: the elimination of just one paragraph from section 5907 would correct the situation and bring about more fairness.
This would be realistic, quick and we could assess the facts, while the government's position on interest deductibility seems to be bogged down. There is no indication as to how the government is going to get out of this. I am anxious to see how the business sector will react. Between yesterday and this morning's announcement, things seem to be looking up because the government is putting off its decision. However, this sends a tenuous message to the business sector.
It is this type of situation that needs to be corrected. I would like the federal government to take a swift decision to correct the tax treaty with Barbados. This does not require vast studies. We already have all these figures at the Canada Revenue Agency or at the Department of Finance. Then a very clear message could be sent that would be consistent with the minister's promise to take care of tax havens. Nonetheless, to make good on his comments, he needs to at least take that one step.