Parliamentary Motion on the Tobin Tax

Between December 1998 and March 1999, in a campaign led by the Halifax Initiative Coalition and that led to a number of Committee and Parliamentary debates (Oct. 16, 1997; Oct 28, 1998; Feb 3, 1999 Part 1 and Part 2), Canadians rallied in support of a Private Member's Motion in the House of Commons, which stated, "that in the opinion of the House, the government should enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community."

Individuals and groups across the country wrote letters and opinion pieces for local and national newspapers and appeared on the CBC and local radio stations. Citizens wrote, called and met with their Member of Parliament(MP) and urged him/her to vote for the motion. They signed our Citizen's Declaration on the Tobin Tax, which were presented to the Minister of Finance.

Halifax Initiative held briefing sessions for MPs and circulated a letter of support signed by prominent individuals and faculty from 19 universities as well as leading non-governmental organizations representing over 2,750,00 Canadians. As a result of widespread public support, the motion passed by a resounding margin of 164-83 on March 23, 1999. Canada became the first country in the world to declare its intention to work towards the adoption of a tax to control international currency speculation. Others have since passed motions and legislation.


HOUSE OF COMMONS VOTE RESULTS - MARCH 23, 1999

MOTION M-239

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community.

YEAS

Adams
Alcock
Assad
Augustine
Bachand (Saint - Jean)
Bailey
Baker
Bakopanos
Barnes
Beaumier
Bélair
Bélanger
Bellemare
Bennett
Bertrand
Bevilacqua
Blaikie
Blondin - Andrew
Bonin
Bonwick
Boudria
Bradshaw
Brown
Byrne
Caccia
Calder
Cannis
Caplan
Carroll
Catterall
Cauchon
Chamberlain
Chan
Charbonneau
Clouthier
Coderre
Collenette
Comuzzi
Cullen
Desjarlais
DeVillers
Dhaliwal
Dion
Discepola
Dockrill
Dromisky
Drouin
Dubé (Lévis - et - Chutes - de - la - Chaudière)
Duhamel
Dumas
Earle
Easter
Eggleton
Finestone
Finlay
Fontana
Fry
Gagliano
Gallaway
Godfrey
Godin (Acadie - Bathurst)
Godin (Châteauguay)
Goodale
Guarnieri
Hardy
Harvard
Hubbard
Ianno
Iftody
Jackson
Jennings
Jordan
Karetak - Lindell
Karygiannis
Keddy (South Shore)
Keyes
Kilger (Stormont - Dundas - Charlottenburgh)
Kilgour (Edmonton Southeast)
Kraft Sloan
Lebel
Lee
Lefebvre
Leung
Lincoln
MacAulay
Mahoney
Malhi
Maloney
Mancini
Marchi
Marleau
Martin (Esquimalt - Juan de Fuca)
Martin (LaSalle - Émard)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Massé
Mayfield
McCormick
McDonough
McGuire
McKay (Scarborough East)
McLellan (Edmonton West)
McTeague
McWhinney
Ménard
Meredith
Mifflin
Minna
Mitchell
Morrison
Murray
Ménard
Myers
Nault
Normand
Nystrom
O'Brien (Labrador)
O'Brien (London - Fanshawe)
O'Reilly
Pagtakhan
Paradis
Parrish
Peric
Peterson
Pettigrew
Phinney
Pickard (Chatham - Kent Essex)
Pillitteri
Plamondon
Proctor
Proud
Provenzano
Redman
Reed
Richardson
Riis
Robillard
Robinson
Rocheleau
Rock
Saada
Scott (Fredericton)
Sekora
Serré
Solomon
St. Denis
Steckle
Stewart (Brant)
Stewart (Northumberland)
St -Hilaire
St - Julien
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thibeault
Torsney
Tremblay (Lac - Saint - Jean)
Ur
Valeri
Vanclief
Vautour
Wappel
Wasylycia - Leis
Whelan
Wilfert
Wood

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