VANCOUVER, Feb. 14 /CNW/ - The Canadian Retired & Income Investors'
Association today welcomed the Liberal Party of Canada's proposed new income
trust policy. The Liberal's plan, available at www.liberal.ca, seeks to
"return as much as two thirds of the losses suffered by investors in the wake
of the Conservatives' broken promise on income trusts".
The Conservative government's October 31st income trust announcement took
a brickbat to seniors' savings, shaving $20-30 billion off the value of income
trust holdings. This is the biggest financial loss ever attributed to one
government action.
Alexander Irwin, General Secretary of the Association, commented, "The
Liberal's policy is a major improvement over the ill-conceived, highly
damaging Conservative plan. We applaud them for caring about seniors and other
ordinary Canadians who have been badly hurt by this, and for considering the
future needs of millions of aging Canadians."
Two of the Liberal's stated policy objectives are: "minimizing the loss
of savings for Canadians who invested in income trusts" and "preserving the
strengths of the income trust sector, notably a high-yield instrument for
savers and for the energy sector". Mr. Irwin said, "Our Association strongly
supports those objectives."
CRIIA looks forward to getting more details about the plan and discussing
with the Liberal Party how it can best meet the needs of ordinary Canadians.
A body of expert reports from highly credible organizations and testimony
from experts at hearings held by the House of Commons Finance Committee has
sharply contradicted the Department of Finance's unsubstantiated contention
that income trusts produce less tax revenue for government than corporations.
CRIIA believes that sound policy needs to be premised on real world data and
realistic analysis.
About CRIIA
The Canadian Retired & Income Investors' Association is a federally
incorporated not-for-profit corporation representing the interests of ordinary
Canadian retired and income investors. See our website at www.criia.ca.
For further information: Alexander Irwin,General Secretary to CRIIA,
criia@telus.net, (604) 230-0980
