FREDERICTON – Today in the Legislative Assembly Green Party Finance Critic and MLA for Kent North Kevin Arseneau tabled a motion calling for a Legislative committee to hold public hearings on the use of tax havens by companies operating in New Brunswick.

“When I asked Minister Steeves how much tax revenue we lose annually due to offshore tax avoidance and tax evasion, he said he did not know,” said Arseneau. “Well, I think it is time to investigate and find out.”

An investigation by CBC and Radio-Canada that came out earlier this month revealed that Irving used a private insurance company in Bermuda to pile up $13 million in tax-free profits between 1973 and 2001, the last year for which the news outlets have financial statements.

“That’s a lot of money that’s not in schools, in our hospitals, on our roads, in our common good,” said Arseneau. “As legislators, we are here to look at laws, amend them and change them. And this legalized theft has got to stop.”