A Saskatoon man is calling on one of the world’s largest uranium producers to pay $2.1 billion in back taxes that stem from a dispute the company is currently in with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
On Wednesday morning, Don Kossick and two others attempted to present a member of Cameco’s executive team with a petition of more than 36,000 signatures demanding the company pay the amount.
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Since he did not have an appointment, he was told he could not enter the building, but was able to give a security guard a box containing the information. A similar delivery was made Wednesday on Parliament Hill.
The cross-country effort is related to a court case between Cameco and the CRA. For more than a decade, Cameco has sold uranium to its European subsidiary, which then re-sold the product to customers. The related taxes were collected abroad.
“A lot of that money could go into indigenous communities across Canada, you know, who have not got clean water,” Kossick said at the doorstep of Cameco’s headquarters.
He said he believes the company was hiding their profits in a tax shelter.
“If that money was in the north and used for development in the north by the government with communities telling the government what they needed for community development, things would change,” Kossik added to reporters.
A Cameco spokesperson said he wouldn’t talk about specifics of the case, since it’s expected to go before a judge in the fall. However, he added that part of the petition’s narrative is missing.
“Bottom line is that we have paid our taxes and we are on a path right now to tax court.”