Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to revisit a question that I asked the government, more specifically the Minister of National Revenue, about the KPMG affair some time ago. This matter is very much in the public eye. It concerns a deal between the Canada Revenue Agency and KPMG, or more specifically KPMG clients. Some of them have accepted the deal offered by the Canada Revenue Agency. By all accounts, these taxpayers broke the law, but they nevertheless were given a deal by the Canada Revenue Agency whereby they will have no penalties, pay almost no interest, and be spared legal proceedings.
This story was much talked about in my riding and made the people of Sherbrooke furious. We are talking about rich taxpayers, millionaires, who could afford to pay the KPMG accounting firm $100,000 for its services, according to what we were told at the Standing Committee on Finance. KPMG set up a scheme that allowed them to keep assets on the Isle of Man, not declare income on these investments, and thereby avoid paying taxes. These are taxes that should have been paid in Canada. These taxpayers should have paid their fair share so that Canadians can get the services they expect from the government.
This story was much talked about. It even gave rise to a committee study, which picks up again tomorrow, in fact, with new witnesses who will speak to this secret agreement. When I say “secret”, that is important because the agreement is several pages in length, including a confidentiality clause. It says that the taxpayer who receives and signs this letter must not talk about it to anyone and it must remain confidential.
This gives an idea of the government's so-called openness and transparency. It makes secret deals with taxpayers, many of whom can afford to pay KPMG $100,000 to have that accounting firm set up a tax scheme for them. This raises a lot of questions.
Today I would like to talk to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue about how that letter came to be. I want to know who wrote it. Who was behind the letter, who wrote it, who was involved in writing up this agreement?
Was the minister of the day directly involved? Did she approve it? Ms. Henderson testified before the committee. Which of her superiors approved the letter? She says that she does not remember signing it. She says that it is her signature, but she cannot tell us if she really was the one who signed it or even whether the letter exists.
I hope that my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, can shed some light on the existence of the letter and tell us who was in charge of drafting the letter that was sent to KPMG, the letter that was then signed by rich millionaire taxpayers who are KPMG clients.