Madam Chair, let the record show that the finance minister is not inclined to provide any supports to seniors between the ages of 65 and 75 and will continue the discrimination that was in the budget. As well, the finance minister is refusing to put in place a moratorium on student debt payments that so many student organizations across the country have called for. These are not answers that Canadians will support at all.
The minister said earlier that the government was taking action against tax havens. The very simple fact is, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer pointed out in 2019, that Canada loses over $25 billion every year in tax revenues that flee to overseas tax havens. There has not been a successful prosecution by the government of any Canadian or any Canadian company tied to the Bahamas papers, the paradise papers or the Panama papers. Thousands of Canadians are using these loopholes to avoid paying taxes.
CRA employees went to the finance committee last summer and said that they did not have the tools to take action against this tax evasion. They have asked for legislation that the government has not provided. My simple question is this: Where is the legislation that even CRA employees are calling for so that we can finally start to take action against overseas tax havens?