11.06.2017 11:36 AM

My boss on the “Paradise Papers” stuff

Some media have been running his picture atop some of the “Paradise Papers” stories, and it’s pissed me off.  Here’s why:

Statement by Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the ‘Paradise Papers’

Ottawa, Ontario
November 5, 2017

“Any news report that suggests I have or ever had or was associated in any way with any offshore account is false. While as a lawyer for Heenan Blaikie I did some work for Madagascar Oil as a client of the law firm, all fees were billed by the law firm and went to the law firm. I never received any share options and I never had a bank account outside Canada.”

-30-

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Mario says:

    With the Panama and Paradise Papers, the problem is still optics. The names on the lists are political insiders and politicians. Most people won’t be able to recognize an arms length transaction or legal transactions. Being associated with the release of documents is going taint peoples opinion of politics.

  2. JH says:

    Problem is most of ‘the folks’ just look at this and say same old, same old. And always the usual suspects that Ibbotson and Bricker called ‘The Laurentian Elites”. Fairly or unfairly, your Mr & Mrs. Frontporch basically just turn away jaded & disgusted. Thus Brexit, sure winners going down to defeat, (most recently Coderre), and a tendency to say feck’em all!

  3. Matt says:

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but even if he did, the offshore accounts themselves aren’t illegal as long as certain rules are followed, no?

    But the optics are bad for the Liberals especially coming on the heels of all the small business tax reforms and the Morneau stuff.

  4. jane summers says:

    This argument about “illegal” vs. “legal” is nonsensical. Those who write the laws make of them what they and their owners wish. It is “legal” to avoid paying taxes because the lawmakers made it so. For those without the vast fortunes to do the “legal” avoidance dance, the rule is pay or go to jail. For the rich, it’s rewrite the laws to enable what amounts to, in Canada alone, $10billion/year in unpaid taxes.

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