| This week, MPs on the House of Commons Finance Committee started four days of hearings to investigate the growing use of tax havens in Canada. The hearings will result in a report to the Minister of Finance about what Canada should be doing about this. It is a practice that’s robbing federal and provincial budgets of billions of dollars. |
C4TF’s Executive Director, Dennis Howlett attended Day One of the meeting - these are his notes:
This morning's Halifax Chronicle Herald quotes Nova Scotia's Finance Minister as saying she is worried that the province won't be able to balance next year's budget. Provincial officials, she says, are crunching numbers from Ottawa that will tell the tale.
The House of Commons Finance Committee calls for the federal government to "examine further ways to combat tax evasion and conduct a comprehensive review of the tax system to help ensure its fairness and neutrality, and to close loopholes that allow certain groups to avoid paying their “fair share of tax.”
These recommendations were contained in the Report on their Pre-Budget Consultations which was tabled on December 13, 2012.
When provincial budgets lose billions because the feds don't have a grip on the growing use of tax havens - that's no small matter.
But as far as C4TF can tell, the November 2012 Premiers Meeting in Halifax was the first time the phrase "tax havens" came up in conversation at that regular gathering.
Canadians for Tax Fairness and Nova Scotians for Tax Fairness will be holding a Press Conference in Room Windsor 1 at the Prince George Hotel at 1725 Market Street in Halifax, at 10:00am to 11:00am on Friday, November 23, to address their request that the Premiers support the “Bring our Tax Dollars Home” campaign. This initiative targets the use of Tax Havens, by some Canadians, to hide their wealth and to avoid federal and provincial taxation.
In a letter to the Premiers, CTF Coordinator Dennis Howlett wrote,
November 16, 2012
RE: Impact of Tax Havens on Provincial Budgets
Dear Premier,
Later this week, newscasts will be carrying stories of how premiers are meeting in Halifax to discuss finances. It’s an important topic. Provinces deliver healthcare, education and other programs that affect the day-to-day lives of Canadians.
by Murray Dobbin
There is a class of people and corporations in this country whose illicit financial practices have an enormous negative impact on the country and its citizens. Yet the law and order regime of Stephen Harper barely plays lip service to the issue of tax evasion through tax havens.
This week will see the launch of a new book called Imperial Canada Inc.
It sets out to ask a simple question: why is Canada home to more than 70% of the world’s mining companies?
The authors of Imperial Canada Inc., respected scholars in their fields, meticulously research four factors that contribute to the answer to this question: Quebec’s and Ontario’s mining codes; the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange; Canada’s involvement with Caribbean tax havens; and, finally, Canada’s official role of promoting itself to international institutions governing the world’s mining sector.
C4TF launched TackleTaxHavens campaign yesterday with a session on Parliament Hill .
It certainly got Canadians talking. One Ontario Conservative MP called us “radical” for asking the government to examine the growing problem of tax cheats using tax havens.
The tax haven issue has also hit the airwaves.. Take a look at this report that ran on Global National News.
