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Results: 121 - 135 of 226
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-06-17 17:26
Does your professional body.... Across Canada in the provinces, do those professional bodies actually have sanctions they can impose on accountants who engage in tax evasion?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:27
I really do not know how to answer that question. I have no idea. I assume so, because that is what a professional organization is actually for.
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-06-17 17:27
You're a member of a professional accounting body, correct? You could not practise otherwise, correct? That's in Quebec, correct?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:27
That is correct. I am a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-06-17 17:27
Are you telling me that you don't know exactly what rules they have about you or any other accountant within that body engaging in tax evasion?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:28
Yes, it has rules to make sure that training is provided and that clients get the best possible service. I am not familiar with the punitive rules and the sanctions, but I know that the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec publishes the names of those who have been sanctioned.
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Bilodeau, in your testimony, you distinguished between tax evasion and tax avoidance very well. Basically, you helped to establish strategies for tax avoidance, which is legal. That's what KPMG does.
But I do have a problem with that. I'm thinking about ordinary people, personal support workers, for example, because we are still in a pandemic. A lot of people earning minimum wage are paying 35% to 40% in income tax. Nurses may be paying 45% to 50% in income tax. Then we look at the multimillionaires and billionaires who use these strategies to pay a ridiculous amount in income tax, although they certainly have the means to pay their fair share.
So, on the one hand, we have ordinary people tightening their belts, and on the other hand, we have the extremely wealthy who, using strategies like those that you established, end up paying almost nothing. It may be legal, but do you think it's morally acceptable?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:30
As professionals, our role is limited to interpreting and applying the legislation as it is written. If there is a lack of fairness between certain groups of taxpayers, as you mention, I feel that you have to talk to those who make the legislation.
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you. I won't go any further. So you do not acknowledge that what you were able to do is immoral.
That is exactly the problem that was raised by senior officials in the Department of Finance and officials of the Canada Revenue Agency. The legislation contains a lot of loopholes and intricacies, and people like you use them so that the wealthiest among us do not contribute. I find that to be unacceptable.
As you said, our role is to change that, because it is unacceptable. You have no idea how disappointed I am that you do not acknowledge that it is immoral.
That's all I have to say.
Thank you Mr. Chair.
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:31
I am sorry, but I did not understand the question.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Bilodeau, I am tempted to ask you a question about the victims, like Janet Watson, who appeared before our committee. She lost all her life savings because of these strategies.
But I will stick to questions about Parrhesia.
Two very troubling questions emerge from Ms. Iacovelli's testimony.
First, Parrhesia, which has links to the sword companies, was registered as the result of a document faxed from the offices of KPMG in Montreal.
Were you aware of the existence of Parrhesia? Was it discussed in the offices in Montreal? Do you believe that it is one of the issues that could have been discussed by your famous risk management committee?
Then, Ms. Iacovelli clearly stated that the services of those companies were not provided after 2003. However, we discovered that Pannhesia was dissolved on May 24, 2021, just a few weeks ago, and right after the revelations on Enquête and The Fifth Estate, programs on Radio‑Canada and CBC respectively.
Were you aware that Parrhesia existed until that date? How do you explain that Parrhesia was in existence for all that time, although, according to Ms. Iacovelli, it was not active after 2003?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:33
I refer you to my previous comment. I have absolutely no knowledge of that company, so I will answer each of your questions by saying that I am not familiar with it. I had no information about Parrhesia or nor did I have any contact with people who were involved in setting it up.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
This will be my last question for today.
Mr. Bilodeau, you mentioned a tax expert called Barrie Philp. Is he the resource person who should enlighten us about the whole matter of KPMG's strategies?
Serge Bilodeau
View Serge Bilodeau Profile
Serge Bilodeau
2021-06-17 17:34
Barrie Philp, whose name appears in the document that KPMG submitted, was one of those involved in developing that strategy.
As to whether he has to appear or not, I feel that's it's a question for you to answer.
Results: 121 - 135 of 226 | Page: 9 of 16

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