Canadians for Tax Fairness Executive Director Dennis Howlett made a presentation to the House of Commons Finance Committee about a proposed piece of legislation - Bill S-17. The government has said it is one of the tools that it wants to use to get a grip on money flowing offshore.  But Howlett has different advice.  Here is his testimony:

By Dennis Howlett. Executive Director of Canadians for Tax Fairness. Next week’s G8 Summit is an unprecedented opportunity to tackle the murky world of tax havens. But Canada threatens to be a spoiler. Again. British Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed an action plan to his G8 counterparts. His proposal begins to impose some rigour on the shell game and paper trails that are draining revenues from most every government treasury in the world.   When he arrived in London this week, Prime Minister Harper confirmed his commitment to Cameron’s proposal for country by country reporting – a system to track if and where multinational corporations pay taxes on profits.  That is a good start.

Join a media stunt to press Canada to support a strong tax haven action plan at the G8Oxfam Canada and Canadians for Tax Fairness have organized media stunts in several Canadian cities as Prime Minister Stephen Harper heads to G8 summit. Media stunt: 156 empty plates One empty plate represents a hungry person. 156 empty plates represent $156 billion in tax revenues lost from funds that wealthy individuals have hidden in tax havens around the world.

Ontario Senator Vern White, a former Police Chief, has written the Senate Ethics Officer asking for an investigation into the offshore holdings of one of his Senate colleagues. Here is part of his statement:On May 23rd, 2013, a news account on CBC World Report focused on the financial dealings of Senator Merchant and her husband, Tony Merchant.

May 10, 2013: Canadian money stashed in the top 12 global tax havens has topped $170 Billion, according to data on foreign direct investment released yesterday by Statistics Canada. This amounts to a quarter of all Canadian money going abroad.This figure is also equivalent to ten percent of Canada’s $1.8 trillion GDP.One of the main reasons wealthy Canadians and large corporations put their money in tax havens is to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Canadian money sent off shore also means less being invested in Canada. This means the loss of billions of dollars in tax revenue for federal and provincial governments and fewer new jobs being created in Canada.

Join Great Revenue Robbery authors Dennis Howlett and Richard Swift for the Montreal launch of a book a lot of people have been talking about - and celebrate with us as we go into a second printing. The event takes place on Thursday, May 23 starting at 7pm. It is being held at Argo Bookshop, 1915 St. Catherine Street West. The owner tells us  Argo is  the oldest bookstore in Montreal. But it certainly isn't afraid of some new ideas.   

The House of Commons Committee studying tax havens is releasing its report this afternoon.Will the report set Canada on the right course to deal with billions of dollars that go untaxed every year?Here are some key things to look for:

People in Kitchener-Waterloo will be getting together to hear all about the Great Revenue Robbery on Monday April 29 at 7 p.m at the First United Church, 16 Williams Street West in Waterloo.  Executive Director Dennis Howlett, will be the featured speaker, busting a lot of myths about Canada and taxation. 

In the mood for an energetic discussion about tax fairness?We've got just the spot for you.Join C4TF's Dennis Howlett, Great Revenue Robbery editor and contributor Richard Swift among others at the Toronto launch of the book.  It takes place April 15  6:30 pm at No One Writes to the Colonel, 460 College Street, Toronto.