Mr. Speaker, during this Global Week of Action to End Tax Havens, the Bloc Québécois is joining with citizens, unions, and civil society groups protesting outside the Prime Minister's constituency office in Montreal and all around the world.
The Bloc Québécois has always been at the forefront of the fight against tax havens running the gamut from Paul Martin's ships and the Irving shell game to tax regulations that favour Barbados and authorize the use of other tax havens. For the Bloc Québécois, the Global Week of Action to End Tax Havens lasts all year.
As usual, in Ottawa, this will be the week to support tax havens, and the government is doing a great job of that. Three Canadian banks represent 80% of the banking assets in Barbados, Grenada, and the Bahamas. On one hand the government is announcing millions of dollars in funding to combat fraud, while on the other it is legalizing all these schemes.
Ordinary Canadians are the ones who are paying the price. It is completely unfair, as demonstrated by austerity measures. Canada's leniency toward tax havens has gone on for far too long.