OTTAWA — The Trudeau government’s politically bruised promise to ensure “tax fairness” for the middle class took another beating Monday amid unfolding revelations about the widespread and perfectly legal practice among ultra-wealthy Canadians of harbouring cash in offshore tax havens.
Included among the 13.4 million leaked documents, dubbed the “Paradise Papers,” were the names of former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien and top party fundraiser Stephen Bronfman — the mere mention of whom gave fresh ammunition for the opposition to accuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of leading an ethically challenged government.
Neither the Canada Revenue Agency nor any court has determined that any of the Canadians identified in the documents did anything wrong, and both Bronfman and Chretien denied any involvement in offshore tax avoidance schemes.
Still, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer branded Trudeau a hypocrite for aggressively seeking to end tax advantages for small businesses, while doing next to nothing to crack down on complicated tax haven schemes used by the super-rich.
Guy Caron, the NDP point man in the Commons, joined in the fray, accusing the CRA of always letting the “big fish” go when it comes to tax evasion.
Trudeau refused to talk about any specific cases mentioned in the documents, but vowed to investigate Canadian connections.
“We are fully committed to fighting evasion and tax avoidance. I will let individuals comment on their own situations, but in regards to the Paradise Papers, the CRA is reviewing links to Canadian entities and will take every appropriate action,” he told the Commons during question period.
The details, released by members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, mark the largest-ever leak of tax haven documents involving Canadians. The documents — client records from offshore law firm Appleby, as well as some records from offshore corporate services firms Estera and Asiaciti Trust — contain the names of more than 3,000 Canadians.
According to the Toronto Star and CBC/Radio Canada, records suggest Bronfman and his family’s Montreal-based investment company, Claridge Inc., were linked to an offshore trust in the Cayman Islands. The report raised questions about a complicated series of transactions involving people with Liberal party ties.