Finance committee  Thank you.

Finance committee  In our brief, we made a number of proposals. I am not going to go over them again, but I would just like to mention that one of the main recommendations is that considerable thought must be given to the ethical side of our Canadian tax system. That is what we are looking at, and

Finance committee  We train people to behave appropriately as citizens. In that sense, we promote a fair and equitable contribution to taxation. Members of society have a right to provide for their retirement, but avoiding paying tax and investing offshore in order to pay less tax is unacceptable.

Finance committee  Yes, to the banking institutions.

Finance committee  We are not saying that banks should not have subsidiaries offshore. We are simply asking that they not establish them in tax havens. And we have had success in that regard. Last year, we presented a similar proposal to CIBC shareholders and it received support from 9.5% of them.

Finance committee  As far as MÉDAC is concerned, there should be a comprehensive reform of the tax system based on the principles of economic solidarity.

Finance committee  I would like people to ask who is benefitting from these tax cuts. Is it the large organizations or corporations, the large multinationals, or is it the SMEs which are already paying their share of taxation? I think that is the real question.

Finance committee  As far as we are concerned, such strategies should be abolished. I would like to come back to the question asked earlier. The National Bank has considerably reduced its involvement in tax havens, and yet, as I'm sure you will agree, it continues to make money. It's simply a matt

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  It's not an acceptable advantage.

Finance committee  The National Bank is of the same caliber as the others.

Finance committee  We think it is absolutely critical that the penalties be stiffer. That is the only way to put an end to the practices of these advisors who encourage their clients not to pay the income tax they owe. So, I would just like to repeat our recommendation in that regard.

Finance committee  I have seen the OECD list that relates to information disclosure. However, there are other factors to be considered in determining which countries are tax havens, in particular a tax rate that is much lower in relative terms. If you look carefully, you will see that other organi

Finance committee  That is in fact a perception. What is important to us is that the entire system be re-thought so that everyone is paying the appropriate amount of tax to the government.

Finance committee  I have followed all the testimony before this committee. I discovered that Canada Revenue Agency officials themselves stated that they do not have all the necessary resources. When I did some research to try and find information in support of that, I often had to refer to other c