Liberals introduce legislation to create a corporate ownership registry
Liberals introduce legislation to create a corporate ownership registry
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry speaks at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference regarding the future of critical metals and investing in Canada in Toronto, Monday, March 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ottawa -
The federal Liberals are moving ahead with plans to create an ownership registry after promising to increase transparency about who owns and controls corporations.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has tabled legislation that would create a corporate beneficial ownership registry.
The prospective registry is expected to have the goal of making it easier to identify owners of corporations who launder money, commit financial crimes or evade taxes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mandate letter to Champagne after the last federal election included instructions to create such a registry.
The Liberals' 2021 budget dedicated $2.1 million over two years "to support the implementation of a publicly accessible corporate beneficial ownership registry by 2025."
But the Liberals' supply-and-confidence agreement with New Democrats, signed a year ago, required a quicker timeline.
In that deal, which sees the NDP supporting the government on key votes in exchange for movement on NDP priorities, the federal government committed to implementing the registry by the end of 2023.
In a statement, NDP finance critic Daniel Blaikie said his party has been pushing for the creation of the registry "to make it harder for wealthy tax dodgers, corrupt businesspeople and sanctioned Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in Canada."
The federal government held public consultations in 2020 with a range of stakeholders -- including law enforcement, tax agencies and industry associations -- and found nearly all agreed with the idea of creating a registry.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2023.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
The Royal Bank of Canada is facing issues with online and mobile banking. According to a brief message posted on Twitter, there is an issue with the digital display of transactions.
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
Forget your hook, line and sinker. An Israeli foodtech company says it has 3D printed the first ever ready-to-cook fish filet using animal cells cultivated and grown in a laboratory.
It's time for residents along the southeastern U.S. coastlines to make sure their storm plans are in place as the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway on Thursday.
More than 300 firefighters from the United States and South Africa are heading to Canada in the coming days as the country battles an unprecedented wildfire season that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes so far this year.
The Royal Bank of Canada is facing issues with online and mobile banking. According to a brief message posted on Twitter, there is an issue with the digital display of transactions.
More than 300 firefighters from the United States and South Africa are heading to Canada in the coming days as the country battles an unprecedented wildfire season that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes so far this year.
A wildfire that began burning in the Upper Tantallon, N.S., area Sunday and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents is now 50 per cent contained.
German prosecutors said Thursday that they will examine objects that were found in a search in Portugal last week for clues regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, but can't yet say whether they are linked to the British girl who went missing in 2007.
The powerful sister of North Korean Kim Jong Un on Thursday accused the United States of 'gangster-like' hypocrisy for criticizing her country's failed launch of a military spy satellite and insisted that the North will follow with a successful launch soon.
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
He's heir to the throne in one of the oldest monarchies in the Middle East and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. She's a Saudi architect with an aristocratic pedigree of her own.
The United States urged Sudan's warring sides on Thursday to return to ceasefire talks and make a concerted effort to abide by a lasting truce after peace efforts collapsed yet again.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
The prime minister's national security adviser says Ottawa needs to improve the way it manages intelligence, and officials are taking steps to address breakdowns in communication within government.
The federal government is proclaiming a National Day Against Gun Violence, to be held annually on the first Friday of June. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and representatives of the Toronto Raptors basketball team are set to discuss the plans today at an event in Toronto.
Canada will soon require health warnings to be printed directly on individual cigarettes, making it the first country to implement this kind of measure aimed at reducing tobacco usage.
A team led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found physiological evidence of brain inflammation in people with cognitive and depressive symptoms months after their COVID-19 infections.
Forget your hook, line and sinker. An Israeli foodtech company says it has 3D printed the first ever ready-to-cook fish filet using animal cells cultivated and grown in a laboratory.
Attorneys representing adult entertainers, erotica authors and sex educators on Wednesday asked a judge to put on hold a Utah law requiring porn and other adult websites verify user ages.
Rapper, producer and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs sued Diageo Wednesday, saying the spirits company didn’t make promised investments in his vodka and tequila brands and treated them as inferior “urban” products.
Some of Adidas' remaining Yeezy shoes are back on sale, months after the German sportswear company cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
Amazon has agreed to pay more than US$30 million to settle two federal lawsuits alleging that the tech giant violated users’ privacy — including that of children — through its Alexa voice assistant and its Ring doorbell cameras.
More than three years after COVID was declared a global pandemic, a new study is looking at how the international health crisis has changed the lifestyle habits of Canadians.
Now a New York company that makes carbon-negative aviation fuel is taking the menu for interplanetary cuisine in a very different direction. Its innovation has put it in the finals of a NASA-sponsored contest to encourage development of next-generation technologies for meeting the food needs of astronauts.
Lionel Messi arrived two years ago wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with 'Ici C'est Paris' (This Is Paris) -- a favourite cry among Paris Saint-Germain fans -- and to chants of 'Messi! Messi! Messi!'
The Pittsburgh Penguins have named former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas its new president of hockey operations, the club announced Thursday.
The U.S. government's auto safety agency plans to require that all new passenger cars and light trucks include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking and meet stricter safety standards within three years.
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry speaks at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference regarding the future of critical metals and investing in Canada in Toronto, Monday, March 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
