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June 25th - "I Expect More" Campaign Launched - CRIIA is a proud co-sponsor of the "I Expect More" campaign with the Canadian Coalition of Energy Trusts. Click here to read the media release. Click here to hear the radio ads and see the print ads. Albertans and other Canadians are urged to write their MPs to protest the Conservative government's harmful income trust changes. Go to www.iexpectmore.ca for more information.
April 14th - Jason Kenney's Calgary Open House - On April 14th, Conservative MP Jason Kenney held an open house in his Calgary riding. Most of the questions, comments and discussion focussed on the income trust issue and the Conservative's broken promise. Constituents voiced the deep anger and betrayal they felt. Kenney said the experience was "humbling" and he would take the message back to Ottawa, but did not expect anything to change. Click here for a news report on and video clip of the meeting. Albertans, in particular, have been very badly hurt by the ill-conceived income trust tax and the damage is still unfolding.
April 2-4th - More Trust Buy-outs, More Damage - The recent foreign takeover bids for KCP Income Fund and Gateway Casinos Income Fund confirmed a clear trend. The October 31st income trust tax annoucement caused a big drop in trust values. That put the whole sector into play. The winners have been foreign private equity bidders. They use large amounts of borrowed money to eliminate any taxable income in Canada. To make matters worse, in the recent federal budget the Conservatives said they would eliminate the minimum 15% withholding tax payable when Canadian entities remit interest payments to non-Canadians. So now Canadians will lose ownership, high yielding investment opportunities, and tax revenue. Disastrous results ! Click here to see Globe & Mail business reporters Eric Reguly and Andrew Willis comment on this on Business News Network TV.
March 19th - Federal Budget - Will the Government of Canada's 2007 Budget contain any relief for the millions of Canadians, many vulnerable seniors, who suffered huge losses when the minority Conservatives announced a new tax on income trusts ? Angry Canadians have inundated their elected representatives with their stories of betrayal and loss since that annoucement. Will the government show any compassion ? Answer: No.
March 17th - Angus Reid Income Trust Poll - An Angus Reid poll on the Conservative's income trust proposals finds a large majority of Canadians believe them to be unfair. Click here to see a summary of the poll's results.
February 28th - FINA Issues Report - The House of Commons Finance Committee (FINA) released its Report on the Hearings it held on the government’s proposed income trust policy. It acknowledges that the government’s October 31st announcement has had a devastating impact on many ordinary Canadians. Key witness testimony seriously undermined the government’s tax leakage thesis. Real world data, which is much more important than “projections” from government computer models, shows that government gets more tax revenue from businesses operating as trusts. The opposite of the government’s thesis. Click here to go to the full report.
February 27th - CARP Supports Liberal Policy - The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has said it "strongly supports" the Liberal Party’s new policy on Income Trusts. Click here to go to see their announcement. This reflects a growing realization that the government’s approach has inflicted huge damage on seniors.
February 19th and 20th - CRIIA Attends Meetings on Parliament Hill - CRIIA’s General Secretary, Alexander Irwin, attended a series of meetings in Ottawa with MPs, Senators and key staffers. (Special thanks to CRIIA Ottawa area member Don Francis for joining in on a couple of meetings.) These meetings focused on building support and allies, and generating greater awareness of: (i) how protracted low interest rates and income returns are financially squeezing seniors, and (ii) how the government’s income trust announcement has inflicted unconscionably large losses and great suffering on many ordinary Canadians, people who had relied on the Conservative’s crystal clear election promise, and (iii) the real world evidence that debunks the government’s “tax leakage” thesis and indeed shows significantly higher tax revenue from businesses structured as trusts. These facts and messages resonated, which sets the stage for a bigger push in the future.
February 16th - John McCallum Speaks on MPtv - Click here to see Liberal Finance critic John McCallum speak about the Liberals' new policy on income trusts on MPtv.
February 14th - CRIIA Press Release - Canadian Retired & Income Investors’ Association (CRIIA) welcomes Liberal’s New Income Trust Plan in the face of Unprecedented Attack on Seniors’ Savings. Click here to read this release.
February 13th - Liberal's Announce Policy on Income Trusts - The Liberal Party of Canada announced its policy on income trusts which aims to “return as much as two thirds of the losses suffered by investors in the wake of the Conservatives’ broken promise on income trusts”. Click here to read the party's press release.
February 13th - Ordinary Canadians Testify at FINA Hearings - A number of plain spoken, ordinary Canadians gave testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on how the Conservative government's income trust announcement hurt them and their families. Click here to read the testimony of Dave Marshall, a 69 year old retired truck driver from Cornwall, Ontario.
February 9th - CRIIA Press Release - Canadian Retired & Income Investors’ Association (CRIIA) Calls for a Full Public Review of Finance’s Income Trust Numbers in the face of Unprecedented Attack on Seniors’ Savings. Click here to read this release. Click here to read story in the Financial Post.
February 8th - New Poll - The Department of Finance finally publicly released its calculations on income trust tax generation, and last week the House of Commons Finance Committee heard from a number of experts. Go to our "Polling Booth" page and give us your views on the Department's analysis.
February 1st - Poll Results - Our CRIIA poll asked "Can you live comfortably in retirement on income investment returns of 3-4% ? 95.7% of those polled answered No. 4.3% answered Yes. No surprise here. When will the government realize this practical reality ?
January 31st - Ralph Klein Speaks Out - The dean of Canadian conservatives gives Stephen Harper some advice on how to deal with the income trust debacle. Click here to read Ralph's advice and other important news stories on the income trust issue.
January 29th - Media Conference - Garth Turner, MP, hosts a Media Conference for Income Trust Victims and CRIIA makes its public debut. Click here to read the CRIIA press release.
