Programme: Tax Justice and Human Rights Symposium, McGill University, Montreal 18-20 June 2014

Time

Topic

08:30 – 09:00

Registration & Arrival Tea/Coffee

09:00 – 09:30

Welcome Remarks: Dean Daniel Jutras

Panel 1

Sam Singer, Moderator

09:30 – 10:00

Leyla Ates, Developing Countries And Globalization of Tax Law Making: Turk?sh Tax Law Reforms on Fighting Tax Evasion

Steven Dean, discussant

10:00 – 10:30

Montano Cabezas, Giving Credit Where it is Due: Rethinking the Corporate Tax Paradigm

Kim Brooks, discussant

10:30 – 10:45

Refreshment Break

Panel 2

William Stephenson, Moderator

10:45 – 11:15

Regina Duarte, Globalization, Tax Competition and Tax Base Erosion: a Matter of Human Rights

Henry Ordower, discussant

11:15 – 11:45

Martin Hearson, Why Do Developing Countries Sign Tax Treaties?

Lee Sheppard, discussant

11:45 – 12:15

May Hen, Who runs the Cayman Islands? Field notes on elite tax discourse

Lyne LaTulippe, discussant

12:15 – 01:30

Stikeman Chair’s Luncheon feat. Keynote Speaker [TBD, Stikeman Elliot]

Panel 3

Miriam Clouthier, Moderator

01:30 – 02:00

César Alejandro Ruiz Jiménez, Right to Property and Taxation

Stephen Cohen, discussant

02:00 – 02:30

Juan Molina, Trade Mispricing in Argentina: A Case Study

Neil Buchanan, discussant

02:30 – 03:00

Daisy Ogembo, VAT Refunds and Tax Justice

Andre Moreira, discussant

03:00 – 03:30

Refreshment Break

Panel 4

Kal Tamm, Moderator

03.30 – 05:00

Incubator Session: Designing a Research Project, Methodology & Collaboration, and Publishing

Shirley Pouget, Adrienne Margolis, Krishen Mehta

05:00 – 06.30

Cocktail reception

06:30 – 08.30

Roundtable on Tax Justice and Human Rights: Open to the Public

Allison Christians, Moderator

Featuring Alex Himelfarb (York University); Kate Donald (UNHCHR); Attiya Waris (Univ. of Nairobi), Denise Byrnes (Oxfam Quebec)

Time

Topic

08:00 – 08:45

Registration & Arrival Tea/Coffee

08:45 – 09:00

Welcoming Remarks: Christians, Howlett, Gillespie, Christensen

09.00 – 09:45

1. Setting the Stage

William Stephenson, Moderator

– Kim Brooks: Why Justice Matters for Tax Policy

– Jack Blum: [TBA]

– Allison Christians: Who Has Rights, What Rights, and Against Whom?

09:45 – 11:00

2. Human Rights and Tax Justice Reports

Ofer Sitbon, Moderator

– Lloyd Lipsett, IBAHRI Task Force Report

– Kate Donald, UNHRC Report

– Adrienne Margolis, L4BB Report

– David Quentin and Shirley Pouget, discussants

11:00 – 11:15

Refreshment Break

11:15 – 12:45

3. Gender and Fiscal Justice

Liz Nelson, Moderator

– Annick Provencher, From the Invisible Hand to the Invisible Woman

– Rhys Kesselman, Income Splitting and Alternatives for Family Tax Cuts in Canada

– Kathleen Lahey [TBA]

Kate Donald, Attiya Waris, discussants

12:45 – 02:00

Lunch, Keynote Speaker Thomas Pogge VIA SKYPE

02:00 – 03:30

4. Fiscal Justice; Regional Challenges and Initiatives

May Hen, Moderator

– Savior Mwambwa [TBA]

– Andre Mendes Moreira, Indirect Taxes and Tax Justice

– Misabel Machado Derzi, Social Rights and Fiscal Competition in International Law

– Renaud Fossard [TBA]

Lyne LaTulippe, John Christensen, discussants

03:30 – 03:45

Refreshment Break

03:45 – 05:00

5. Reducing Inequality: International Corporate Tax Reform

Jo Marie Griesgraber, Moderator

– Erika Siu [TBA]

– Michael Knoll, Competitive Neutrality and the EU Model

– Lee Sheppard, OECD Initiative on BEPS

– Robert Fox, ‘Business Among Friends: Why corporate tax dodgers are not yet losing sleep over global tax reform.  

Samuel Singer, Alexandre Sheldon, discussants

5:00 – 5:30

Announcements

5:30 – 06:30

Refreshment Break

Breakout Session: IBAHRI Update on Tax and the Millennium Development Goals

06:30

Film Screening: The Price We Pay

Time

Topic

08:30 – 09:00

Registration & Arrival Tea/Coffee

09:00 – 10:30

6. Reducing Inequality: Tax Avoidance and Capital Flight

Ofer Sitbon, Moderator

– Jim Henry, Kleptocracy and Human Rights

– Steven Cohen, Does Swiss Bank Secrecy Violate International Human Rights?

– Brigitte Alepin, The Foundation

– Steven Dean, A Tax Regime to Catalyze Social Enterprise Crowdfunding

Jack Blum, John Christensen, discussants

10:30 – 10:45

Refreshment Break

10:45 – 12:00

7. Reducing Inequality: Tax Avoidance and Progressive Taxation

Neil Buchanan, moderator

– Chris Odinet, Taxing Property Owners

– Jean Pierre Vidal, Ethics in Taxation: what is it, and why should a tax specialist care?

– Clément Camion, The Political Context of Tax Justice

– Niko Luisiani, Dignity, or indignation? Bringing Human Rights to Bear in Spain’s Age of Austerity

Jim Henry, Attiya Waris, discussants

12:00 ? 01:30

Lunch, Keynote Speaker Attiya Waris

01:30 ? 03:00

8. Tax Wars: Regulating Competition

Samuel Singer, Moderator

– Lynne LaTulippe, Tax Competition and Paradigm Shift in International Law

– Krishen Mehta, Can Developing Countries Attract Investment and Still Get a Fair Deal on Tax Justice?

Henry Ordower, Retreat from Progressive Taxation in the Swedish Welfare State: Does Immigration Matter?

John Christensen, Neil Buchanan, discussants

03.00 – 03:15

Refreshment Break

03:15 – 04:30

9. Environmental Tax Justice

Jessica Magonet, Moderator

– Toby Sanger [TBD]

– Tracey Roberts, Tax – A Better Mechanism to Protect Rights in the Global Commons

– Rodolfo Boix, Distribution of ecological costs through environmental taxes

Stephane Dion, Jim Henry, discussants

04:30 – 05:30

10. Roundtable on Tax Justice Campaigns and CSO Actions

Imad Sabi, Moderator

Dennis Howlett, [Teresa Marshall], Duncan Wigan, Victoria Harnett

05:30 – 05:45

Wrap Up and Closing Remarks, Allison Christians

05:45 – 07:00

Closing Cocktail