Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for his excellent work. He continues to hold the government's feet to the fire on this important issue.
The government says that it is taking action on tax havens. It says that it hopes to recover $70 million. We should have a better idea of the specific amounts when the parliamentary budget officer conducts his study on the tax gap. However, it should be possible to recover at least $8 billion and possibly as much as $12 billion if the work is done properly. We must ensure that taxes owed to Canada are paid and that this money does not flow to tax havens.
At a minimum, this is $8 billion to $12 billion that could be invested in our public services and that would enable us to implement a universal pharmacare system and improve our universal health care plan.
We are currently losing this money because the government is not doing its due diligence on tax fairness. We are talking about tax havens, but I also pointed out that the government has refused to ensure that Canadian and U.S. businesses are on the same footing. The government is giving U.S. businesses a 15% competitive advantage over Canadian businesses. Is this government working in the interests of U.S. or Canadian businesses? To the best of my knowledge, Canadian businesses are the ones paying taxes. U.S. companies that compete against them on Canadian soil should also pay taxes.