Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Sherbrooke for his question.
A Canada-Barbados tax treaty has existed since 1980. It was amended in 1999, retroactive to 1994. The international treaty states that if a shell company exists in Barbados, when the profits are repatriated to Canada, the company or repatriated profits must be taxed and the taxes must be paid here. We can all agree on that.
The problem is that section 5907 of the income tax regulations states that this regulation will not be enforced and companies do not have to pay taxes on repatriated funds. This section was not negotiated with Barbados and was changed by the Chrétien government at the time. It might be illegal. It has never been challenged in court.