Parliament’s finance committee is set to open hearings into corporate tax avoidance through offshore accounts — a move Conservatives say is long overdue and Liberals claim is a political attack on Prime Minister Mark Carney.Blacklock's Reporter says Conservative MP Jasraj Hallan (Calgary East) pushed for the hearings, arguing Canada’s weak rules on offshore subsidiaries and tax treaties have made the country “a conduit for tax avoidance.” He accused Carney, who previously chaired Brookfield Asset Management, of benefiting from Bermuda-based tax shelters while ordinary Canadians face higher taxes.“For Liberals, there’s a two-tier tax code,” said Hallan. “One is for the rich like the Prime Minister and his friends, and one is for the rest of us. While Canadians worry about making a mistake on their tax returns, the Prime Minister’s former company stashes profits offshore.”.Carney served as chair of Brookfield until January 16, when he entered the Liberal leadership race. A 2023 report by the U.K.-based Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research named Brookfield “Canada’s top tax dodger,” citing its use of Bermuda-related structures to lower income tax obligations.The report said that while such practices may be legal, they “have large negative impacts on public funding for essential services.” Hallan said the hearings would seek expert testimony on closing loopholes and improving enforcement at the Canada Revenue Agency..Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon dismissed the Conservative-led motion as partisan theatre.“They dig dirt on day one,” he told MPs earlier this year. “The Prime Minister has followed all the rules.”Carney has not commented directly on Brookfield’s tax practices but said during a February leadership debate that he is “ready to give everything for Canada.”
