To the Editor:
On July 13, 2011, I emailed Canada's Minister of National Revenue, the Hon. Gail Shea, pointing out that in October, 2010, both the CBC and the Globe and Mail ran a story about 1,700 very wealthy Canadians using Swiss bank accounts to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. I asked the Minister how many of the 1700 Canadians were audited and what the aggregate total of tax recovered was.
In her lengthy written reply to me dated August 16, 2011, the Minister assured me that "fairness and equal treatment are cornerstones of Canada's tax system", but made no mention of the two questions I asked. I responded by email August 26, 2011, by insisting she answer the questions.
The Minister's second written reply dated October 6, 2011, included the following statements: "The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) supports openness and transparency within the boundaries of governing legislation. As well, the CRA takes seriously its obligation to follow confidentiality and privacy legislation, which helps to ensure CRA's integrity and credibility with Canadians." and: " For example your question about how many people in the group that the Globe and Mail and the CBCb mentioned have been audited and the total tax revenue the CRA has recovered relate to information the CRA received through an international tax treaty.
That information is protected through both the "Exchange of Information" article of the tax treaty and the Privacy Act, therefore I am prohibited from sharing it."
Again I emailed a reply pointing out that the two questions I asked did not involve outside sources or identities, only aggregate totals. To date I've had no response. It appears that our laws are designed to prevent ordinary Canadians from knowing whether or not the Ottawa Government is doing anything about the greedy super rich using tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
William Dascavich, Edmonton, AB.
