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Tobin Tax
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Tobin Tax
Ottawa - NGOs applaud the Canadian government for voting yes to
promoting measures to control currency speculation. Private member’s motion 239 calls
for Canada to promote a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international
community.
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Canadian NGOs have been pushing for this tax, commonly known as the Tobin tax,
after Nobel prize- winning economist James Tobin, as an important measure to make the
global economy more stable, democratic and equitable. The motion passed in the House of
Commons, 162 to 83. We would like to salute Lorne Nystrom for his initiative in putting
forward this motion. "Currency speculation is unacceptable to Canadians who are
anxious about instability in the global economy. This message was communicated to
Parliamentarians and we are pleased with the political will which Canada has shown by this
vote to address the problems of hot money", said Gord Walker, spokesperson for the
Halifax Initiative, a coalition for global economic democracy.
Millions of citizens across the country, through labour, church, academic, environment and
development organizations, sent the message in favour of the Tobin tax to their MPs,
directly, through an open letter or by signing a citizen’s declaration in the weeks
leading up to the vote.
This motion gives the government a strong mandate to go to the G8 and other international
fora to promote a tax on international currency speculation as a key component of the
‘new international financial architecture’. Canadian NGOs are committed to
collaborating with the Canadian government to seek international support for this motion.
"Greater transparency and surveillance of the global financial system are not enough
to control the currency speculation", says Jean-Francois Tradif, President of RESULTS
Canada, a Halifax Initiative member. "The Tobin tax is a common-sense solution and
will help to control the excesses of globalization and at the same time, act as a
mechanism to distribute wealth generated from the global economy."
In 1995, following the Mexican peso crisis and the Chernobyl accident, Minister Martin
expressed interest in the Tobin tax as an economic stabilizer and as a revenue-generator.
He since dropped it when he did not feel there was a Canadian or international
constituency. Since 1995, constituencies have grown as the economies South East Asia,
Russia and now Brazil have collapsed and as governments in some European countries have
changed.
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