Conservative MP Adam Chambers introduced the bill.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The Conservative Party has introduced legislation that would require Ottawa to publicly disclose all corporate tax debt writeoffs worth $1-million or more.
The private member’s bill, C-230, proposes a Public Debt Forgiveness Registry that would list all corporations that secured more than $1-million in debt writeoffs or forgiveness from the federal government.
Conservative MP Adam Chambers introduced the bill. While most private members’ bills from individual MPs have a low chance of becoming law, this bill will advance more quickly to a first vote because Mr. Chambers was selected in a lottery for a priority position in the House of Commons legislative schedule.
“It’s in the public interest, I think, that people understand which corporations are having their debts written off,” Mr. Chambers said in an interview.
The MP said he expects the bill will be debated and put to a first vote this fall. He said MPs from other parties in the House of Commons seem open to the idea and he will be pushing for their support over the coming weeks.
“One of the reasons why I moved forward with this was because I thought it has a good chance of passing,” he said.
According to the legislation, the registry will disclose the name of the debtor, the amount involved and related details.
The Globe and Mail reported last year that Ottawa approved a sharp spike in large corporate writeoffs in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The Canada Revenue Agency provided the data, which show 11 companies received $1.2-billion in combined writeoffs for tax debt and other financial obligations.
The 11 companies accounted for nearly a quarter of the $4.9-billion in writeoffs approved that year, which covered 1½ million cases of corporate and individual writeoffs.
Citing privacy reasons, the CRA refused to identify the businesses and individuals who had their debts waived. The CRA can write off debts owed to the government for a wide range of reasons, such as bankruptcy, extraordinary circumstances or financial hardship.
The Liberal government is not ruling out the possibility that it could support the bill.
The Globe asked the office of Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who is also responsible for Revenue Canada, as well as Mr. Champagne’s department, for comment on C-230.
A statement provided by Marie-France Faucher, a Finance Canada spokesperson, said preserving confidentiality is one of the long-standing principles of Canada’s tax system and such protections are part of the Income Tax Act.
“That said, the Government of Canada is committed to striking the right balance between transparency by way of proactive disclosures and the protection of taxpayers’ private information. As the Bill was only introduced recently, the Government will continue to follow its progress closely,” she said.