Comment from Gerry located in Ottawa
Why I believe Mr. Harper is not honest.
My wife and I are senior citizens who have a combined annual pension and old age benefits of $26,000. In order to survive and maintain a decent standard of living, we have had to rely on income acquired by investing our savings
We initially tried the stock market and mutual funds with some very negative experiences. Thereafter we invested mainly in GICĀs, Bonds and Treasury Bills. The returns were secure, but were barely above inflation. Several years ago, when rates fell, we were forced to find ways to increase our income and discovered Income Trusts.
As we acquired experience and confidence, we gradually transferred most of our investment funds to Income Trusts and were very pleased with the results. We managed to build a comfortable income stream and were quite content to pay the higher income taxes associated with this.
When the Liberals brought up the tax issue for Income Trusts, we seriously considered selling ours. However, when Mr. Harper raised the issue in Parliament (his statement of Oct. 26, 2005) we decided to hang on until after the elections as we believed the Conservative party would prevail and there would be a party in power with a leader who understood the value of Income Trusts.
We were relieved when the Conservatives won and felt that our investments were much more secure then they had been previously.
However, we were shocked and distressed and felt betrayed when the Finance Minister announced his decision to change the Income Trust tax structure and phase out the majority of these Trusts entirely.
In a 48 hour period, our investment funds dropped in excess of 20%. Further and most disturbing, the Income Trusts that have provided us with a relatively safe means of investing and a steady monthly income will disappear completely in only four years.
We are now left with a considerable financial loss, a disturbing feeling of uncertainty and the problem of trying to recover from our losses in a chaotic market environment.
Senior investors are being deprived of a very popular and valuable income producing investment method that was unique to Canada and a godsend to retirees.
It looks like we will be going back to barely surviving on GICĀs, Bonds and T-Bills and the Banks and Financial Institutions will be winners.
It is astounding that Mr. Harper would allow this to happen when he knew full well the consequences this would have. He knew that Income Trusts were popular with investors and he was specifically aware that tampering with Income Trusts would put the retirements of seniors citizens at risk.
He acted in callous disregard for all of the investors in Income Trusts and particularly against the senior citizens investors for whom he claimed to have concern.
Mr. Harper lied to get elected and has been lying since in his pathetic efforts to justify why he broke his promise.
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