Cabinet has moved to give itself discretion over which corporate tax delinquents appear in a proposed public registry, prompting warnings from Opposition MPs that taxpayers could be kept in the dark. Blacklock's Reporter says the measure, part of Bill C-230, would have required the Treasury Board to name all corporations owing $2 million or more in taxes.Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, Ont.), sponsor of the bill, called it “an important measure of public transparency” but criticized cabinet’s proposal to allow some names to be withheld. “‘Exclude’ to me is delete,” Chambers told the Commons public accounts committee.Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull (Whitby, Ont.), parliamentary secretary for finance, argued the registry should be amended to protect privacy. He said sensitive information should be withheld “to protect individual citizens and their confidentiality” and to avoid putting anyone “in harm’s way.” Turnbull sponsored a motion granting the President of the Treasury Board authority to exclude information deemed inappropriate for public disclosure. The committee adjourned without a vote..Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi-Temiscaminge, Que.) questioned whether the measure could allow major corporations to evade public scrutiny. “Large corporations benefit from debt forgiveness or write-offs like Chrysler and General Motors,” he said. “If the President of the Treasury Board felt it was a competitive disadvantage for them to be named, could their names be concealed from the public?”Tomasz Popeil, senior director with the Treasury Board, told the committee the registry will be established once the bill becomes law, though officials have not finalized how it will operate. “At this time we don’t have a concrete plan of how the registry would be implemented,” he said, adding that searchability and other requirements from the bill would be included.
