44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 16, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/16/23 10:14:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the thing that stood out to me most about the member's speech was when he said that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good in this case. I take his points about the process. I think there are ways that this model can be improved upon; I am also cognizant of the fact that, in order for this registry to be implemented by the beginning of 2024, I believe the legislation has to pass before the end of the month. This will give officials time to implement the will of Parliament on this matter.
I know that there is a sense of urgency because of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the extent to which folks think that Russian oligarchs have assets in Canada. A public beneficial ownership registry would be an important tool in pursuing those folks.
In the opinion of the member, should we get this legislation passed by the end of the month in order to allow for this registry to be put in place in a timely way that allows Canada to pursue Russian oligarchs who are hiding assets in Canada?
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- Jun/16/23 10:45:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that arrangements that allow for tax evasion are made in secret, but we also know that the consequences are not secret when governments do not have enough revenue to pay for the services Canadians rely on.
I wonder if my colleague could elaborate on the consequences of not having the tools to expose the arrangements that allow for tax evasion.
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Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to speak to Bill C-42 at report stage. I will be talking about themes that have already been explored today.
One of the reasons a public beneficial ownership registry is so important is because Canada, notoriously, is losing tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue ever year as a result of tax havens. That is where Canadian corporations are able to declare their revenue in other jurisdictions, and then either bring that money back into the country or not, without paying any sort of tax. That means, despite corporations doing their business and raising their revenue here in Canada, they are finding ways out of paying their fair share.
That is from a more general point of view and about paying into general revenue that then goes to paying for things such as the Canada health transfer and other important sources of funding that ensure Canadians have access to health care, education and the other important services they depend upon. It is also because these companies are making use of a fair amount of Canadian infrastructure, which Canadians pay for through the public purse, to create the profits they are getting. It is only right that they pay their fair share.
If we look at the share of government revenue that comes from business and corporate tax over the last number of decades, that share has been decreasing considerably against the share that working Canadians are paying. We do end up in a difficult situation that is not financially tenable, where corporate Canada is no longer paying as much of the bill as it used to for government services.
One of the tools to do that is to better define the extent to which tax revenue is being avoided or escaped by corporate players in Canada. Part of that puzzle is lifting the veil of secrecy that so often covers various business arrangements and makes it hard to tell who needs to be held to account for their business practices.
Even though I think it is an interesting idea to have a global minimum tax, which is not to say that means Canada has to have a minimum corporate tax, we have a lot of other competitive advantages that make us an attractive place for investment, and Canada should not sell itself short in that regard.
Nevertheless, even if we did have a world minimum corporate tax, it is not going to address the issues of secrecy that a public beneficial ownership registry rightly addresses. It is also important to say that, in the current context and over the course of the last year or so, the arguments for a beneficial public ownership registry have become even more urgent because there is another side to this story.
When I talk about the veil of secrecy around corporate actors and ensuring they are paying their fair share, that is just one part of the story. We also know that there are malignant actors who are not just getting out of paying their fair share of taxes, but who are doing far more. I think of some of the Russia oligarchs who are known to be close associates of Vladimir Putin, who is currently waging an illegal and unjust war in Ukraine. Canada, unfortunately, is one of the places where they have seen fit to stash some of their cash and assets.
To be able to properly enforce sanctions against people like that, we have to lift the veil of secrecy around corporate ownership because those are the spaces where these kinds of folks are hiding. That is why we have seen so many of Canada's allies across the world, in the last 18 months or so, really accelerate their own programs for beneficial public ownership registries. This is why Canada cannot be left behind.
My understanding is that, to implement this registry, it will take some time after the legislation passes to do that. That is why I believe it is important this legislation pass before we break for the summer. That gives about six months to the end of the year for officials to, with a legislated mandate from Parliament, begin to put this registry into effect.
That is one thing we can do to support Ukraine and ensure that Canada is not a haven for those that would do Ukraine harm. It is why this has to pass with urgency.
I take some of the points that were made earlier in debate about the imperfections of the process at committee. What I am hearing is that there is some goodwill around this bill and a willingness, I hope, as we move forward, to look at some of the weaknesses of the bill and improve upon it in the future. However, I would rather see us improving upon something that is in place than continuing to talk about what might come to be in a context where the buddies of Vladimir Putin are having a relatively free run here in Canada because we do not have the information we need to adequately track those sanctions.
I will give an example. There has been talk about lowering the ownership threshold under the public beneficial ownership registry. That is an idea I am quite open to, but I am also mindful that, if this registry is going to be a success, we need to have participation from the provinces. My understanding is that, where provincial registries already exist, the threshold is around 25%, so that is a conversation the federal government needs to have to work with the provinces to bring everyone along together in order to lower that threshold. If we end up with a federal registry with a lower threshold and some provinces decide not to participate, or to delay their participation, I do not think we will be doing ourselves a service.
That is why, while there is room for legitimate criticism and an opportunity to do better as we learn more about public beneficial ownership registries, it should not delay this legislation's passing before summer, so this can be brought into place in a timely way. Then Canada would be able to begin applying more pressure, as it rightly should, to folks who are supporting Vladimir Putin and his illegal war in Ukraine.
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- Jun/16/23 10:54:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the member likely knows, when we talk about problems in the tax regime and folks who would like to evade paying their taxes, they can often structure their business in a way to come right up to the threshold but not exceed it. Therefore, with a 25% threshold, the concern is that it leaves a lot of latitude for a corporate organization to be able to go right up to a relatively higher threshold.
However, as I say, if Canada is going to have a lower threshold, which I am quite open to as an idea, that is not a decision that can be just taken here in Ottawa alone. It is a decision that the provinces have to go along with. It sounds like we are not there yet, unfortunately. I do not think we should delay setting up the registry while that conversation happens, and I certainly encourage the federal government to have a strong dialogue with the provinces about how to get that threshold lower. We should enable the government to set up that infrastructure now, while those conversations are happening, instead of insisting on the conversation before the infrastructure.
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- Jun/16/23 10:56:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. A Canadian author, Alain Deneault I believe, wrote a book that describes the role played by Canadian banks in the creation of the entire international infrastructure of tax havens.
We need a major change in culture in Canada, not just in government, but in the banking sector, which is truly an integral part of this entire international enterprise. We have work to do.
We must change how we think about this to ensure that Canada is no longer a place where it is impossible to obtain justice for accountants who want big corporations to pay their taxes, and not just the Canadian workers who are footing the bill.
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- Jun/16/23 10:58:43 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is certainly an area for federal and provincial co-operation.
As I said before, what is important is that we create the legislative mandate for the federal government to move forward as expeditiously as possible, and that the government take a lot of the constructive feedback that has already been offered in the course of this debate into very serious consideration. It should take that into their conversations with the provinces and territories so that we could build the best possible public beneficial ownership registry.
What we have in the legislation now is good, but it could be better. However, we do not need it to be better to get started on all the work that needs to happen in order to start applying pressure to folks like Putin's buddies who are stashing cash here in Canada.
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- Jun/16/23 11:04:13 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the career of two United Church ministers, Carol Fletcher and Jeff Cook.
At the end of June, Carol and Jeff will retire after 35 years of ministry at Transcona Memorial United Church, serving the congregation and the wider community. In the course of their exemplary community ministry, Carol and Jeff have answered Jeremiah's call to seek the welfare of the city we are in.
Since coming to TMUC in 1988, their stewardship has supported the Transcona Food Bank, Families Connecting groups, the nursery school, the Transcona Council for Seniors, the Transcona scouting movement, and put Transcona on the map with the world messy church movement, among other things.
In recognition that Jesus loves us as we are, Jeff and Carol guided our congregation to formally becoming an affirming ministry. They created opportunities to learn what it means to live as treaty people, and they fostered connections with newcomers, nurturing English conversation groups and most recently providing support to people from Ukraine.
On behalf of the congregation and the wider community, I thank Jeff and Carol for their good work and wish them all the best in their next chapter.
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- Jun/16/23 11:30:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in the debate between the Conservative leader and the Liberal finance minister, we hear a lot about public spending and inflation, but what neither of them will say is the role that outsized price increases and record corporate profits have been playing in driving inflation for Canadian households. Canadians know it, as they are the ones paying the bill, and the number one stressor for them now keeping them up at night is their financial position.
The agriculture committee has finally recognized that the New Democrats were right to call for a windfall profit tax on those very same corporations. Now that we have a multipartisan recommendation to implement a windfall tax on giant grocery companies, will the Liberals finally do it?
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today on behalf of many Canadians who support Bill C-262. They want to see Canadian companies represent our country well abroad, with a meaningful concern for human rights, and not just on a voluntary basis but on a basis where they are required to do so by government and where there are meaningful consequences for them if they do not ensure that they are adopting best practices in respect of human rights and reporting out on that regularly.
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- Jun/16/23 12:22:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I also rise today on behalf of Canadians who support Bill S-243, an act to enact the climate-aligned finance act.
The petitioners do not just want to see government policy align with climate objectives in this era of climate change coming home to roost; they also want to see private capital and private investment align with our climate objectives through clear benchmarks, good reporting and meaningful consequences for those who do not ensure that their economic activity is coherent with Canada's goals and the world's goals for reducing emissions and mitigating the worst effects of climate change.
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