‘ETHICAL LOOPHOLES’: House leader ‘shames’ MPs critical of Carney’s ‘offshore tax havens’

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon on Wednesday told the Commons opposition critics should be ashamed for questioning Prime Minister Mark Carney’s personal tax planning.Conservative MPs questioned whether Carney had taken advantage of offshore corporations to avoid paying his share of federal taxes.“They dig dirt on day one,” said MacKinnon, per Blacklock’s Reporter. “Shame on them. We are going to continue our work.”The prime minister to date has declined to discuss personal investments or tax planning by Brookfield Asset Management while he served as chair. .The Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, a United Kingdom think tank, called Brookfield “Canada’s top tax dodger” in a 2023 report called Brookfield’s Bermuda Base: Is Canada’s Largest Alternative Asset Manager Dodging Global Taxes?Conservative MP Michael Barrett said Canadian tax filers deserved answers.“They are paying their taxes,” he told the House.“They want to know if the prime minister paid taxes on his investments.”“Can the prime minister confirm none of the investments he placed in a blind trust were previously held in offshore tax havens?” asked Barrett.“The prime minister has followed all the rules,” interjected MacKinnon.“Opposition members like to distract Canadians with these hypotheticals and conjured scenarios. The fact is we have a prime minister and a new government hard at work.”.Barrett insisted taxpayers deserve answers.“Canadians do not want an explanation on how to bend over backward to fit through ethical loopholes,” he said.“They want to be reassured that, after a decade of serial ethical lawbreaking they can have confidence that the prime minister is going above the basic minimum standard.”“Can the prime minister again, who I welcome to the chamber, stand up and just assure Canadians that none of the funds he had previously were held in offshore tax havens?”“Canada has some of the most stringent ethical guidelines in the world,” replied MacKinnon.“The prime minister has complied with those ethical guidelines.”The Conservative Party on April 8 proposed the Canada Revenue Agency publicly identify all Canadian corporations that pay little or no federal tax.“You can’t avoid your taxes,” Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters.“Global elites should not be able to either.”.Conservatives proposed “a name and shame website to expose all wealthy multinational corporations that are dodging taxes and refusing to pay their fair share,” “expand the offshore tax informant program by giving whistleblowers up to 20% of recovered funds when they help expose illegal tax schemes” and “redirect resources away from auditing and harassing small business owners and charities towards cracking down on offshore tax havens.”Poilievre cited by name Brookfield Asset Management, the multinational formerly headquartered in Toronto with subsidiaries registered in Bermuda. Carney was chair of Brookfield until January 16 and held millions in stock options.

‘ETHICAL LOOPHOLES’: House leader ‘shames’ MPs critical of Carney’s ‘offshore tax havens’

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