SpankyMcFarland

Not everyone who disagrees with you is a Marxist.

The big difference there is between truly, madly, deeply legal tax avoidance for the upper crust and evasion for the lower orders: the poor break the rules; the rich make them.

Nobody 'owes me their money' and, given my tax bracket, I will not be getting any of their loot because I am not middle class. What I do object to is laws being abused by pseudo-entrepreneurs who take little or no risk. That's where I don't see the logic. Laws should do what they are intended to do.

Anybody with mutual funds or a pension that invests in high tech is part of this offshore scam too, so there’s me implicated on two fronts. I still think that you should go after the modestly rich and the filthy rich at the same time. Are guys like these really middle class? http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/top-billing-ont-doctors-500-bill-over-1m-one-ophthalmologist-billed-6-6m-1.2870834 Of course, the filthy rich oligarchs are so deeply embedded in the state we’re probably going to lose there but we should try even if it means losing money in the process. Justice demands it.

It still bugs people. Buffett thinks it’s bonkers too, and before anyone asks why does he take the money, there is a difference between observing a rule and agreeing with it.

I don’t see what religion has to do with it. These offshore ‘vehicles’ flout the spirit of the law. I’d expect that sort of behaviour from dodgy oligarchs with Mafia links, not PMs and their close aides and associates. If you get to a certain level of filthy richness you can develop an escape velocity sufficient to leave the tax system behind. That’s the reality and our politicians should be honest enough to admit it.

And speaking of which: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/05/justin-trudeau-adviser-stephen-bronfman-offshore-paradise-papers http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/paradise-papers-offshore-bronfman-lobbying-1.4384912 http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/conspiracy/reststory/bronfmanevade.html

Aha, our old friend Mr. Bronfman is mentioned in dispatches: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/05/justin-trudeau-adviser-stephen-bronfman-offshore-paradise-papers Every time I do my taxes, and I'm asked about foreign property, Bronfman's family trust and Martin's steamship line come to mind. All completely legal no doubt (let's hope not) which makes it all the more infuriating.

Have to say Chrystia Freeland was ill-advised to criticize Harper's unhelpful comments in a tweet and keep the controversy alive. This puts Scheer in a difficult spot and makes it harder for him to support the government. When it comes to NAFTA we need some omertà and present a united front - this should be as non partisan an issue as possible for Canadians. I hope the current spat has nothing to do with protecting Morneau.

I would say our health care is better value than America's; whether it's actually better is an unanswerable question that depends on the criteria that matter to you. One red herring is medical tourism. Many Canadians do go to the US for procedures but if that's the only yardstick used then Britain, Bulgaria, India, China and Iran must have great medical systems because they also attract a lot of foreign customers.

I hope Harper didn't deliberately leak this. Negotiations with the Americans under Trump are difficult enough without former PMs getting involved in an unhelpful way. Trade between Mexico and Canada will increase and, in general, we should avoid purely bilateral negotiations which will always favour the stronger party.

No, they don't belong to the same race. The people being driven out are South Asian like Indians and the people driving them out are Oriental like Indonesians etc. Look at the pictures.

This thing about the middle class still gets me. Very, VERY upper 'middle' class Canadians, some of these guys. Perhaps penthouse middle class Canadians? You're talking upwards of two million a year for some ophthalmologists in Canada. Still middle class for you? Plus they do claim to be part of the owner entrepreneur class as well, not the wage slaves. Anyway, you are conflating two separate issues: Morneau's personal behaviour over his assets and his sensible proposals regarding the abuses of incorporation. We should be capable of seeing simultaneously the errors in the first situation and the merits of the second. If Morneau resigns and a suitably impoverished successor is found, I sincerely hope income sprinkling is still restricted as much as possible. Because it is wrong.

I agree it looks terrible, reminiscent of Martin's 'Canada' Steamship Line in Barbados and the Bronfman family trust saga. Unfortunately, the oligarchs are always going to have armies of accountants and enablers trying to get them special deals. That's the way in every country. Don't Canada's rules on residency for tax purposes make it a little harder here than it is in Europe to pretend to live offshore? Nearly every mega-wealthy Brit or Irishman claims to reside abroad while living at home. Anyway, we should be as tough as we can on the oligarchs but fair rules should apply to the smaller fry too.

Anyone who has answered questions about foreign property on their tax return, as I have had to do, must be irritated by what Morneau seems to have done. Perhaps he should resign - after all, he doesn't need the work. However, that does not affect the merits of his proposal. For example, sprinkling remains wrong and should not be allowed..

That scenario does not describe physician 'entrepreneurs' whose success is all but guaranteed if they turn up.

A grim story from the US about the power of the pharmaceutical industry to stifle the efforts of law enforcement: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/dea-drug-industry-congress/?utm_term=.c9fbe8a7101c

The 'rich' are rich, just not as rich as the rich.

It's very disappointing to see that. I know the medical associations ran a big campaign across Canada to organize opposition to these proposals and it seems to have borne fruit.

Morneau is indeed very rich. That does not mean that people who are worth a lot less than him are not rich as well. Doctors earn a very large income compared to most Canadians. That is a fact. There are rich farmers in this country as well. I'd like to see family trusts targeted but this proposal was a start at targeting some clear abuses of the system. The opposition to it avoided discussing the tricks doctors get up to as much as possible.

You think these tax proposals are designed to go after the poor?

Average declared income in Vancouver is not that high which is one part of the reason why it's so unaffordable for working Canadians.

If Canadian doctors and dentists were working in anything like a true market, e.g. the restaurant business, I wouldn't mind them calling themselves entrepreneurs and asking to be treated as such. Many of my colleagues have lost their shirts in business deals, often to avoid tax.

Over his time in office, he left a big deficit.

Think of the legal gobbledygook involved in distinguishing between hijabs and headscarves. You're not going to tell me a woman can't wear a headscarf.