TORONTO, March 4 /CNW/ - By way of this press release, and in the name of
its five thousand plus Founding Individual Members and on behalf of over
2.5 million income trust investors, the Canadian Association of Income Trust
Investors (CAITI) is today calling upon the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila
Fraser, to pursue the investigation of alleged tax leakage from income trusts
that was requested of her in a letter dated February 28, 2008 from the four
Liberal Members of the Standing Committee on Finance.
Information on the Liberal Party initiative is at:
http://www.liberal.ca/story_13639_e.aspx
Separately the Green Party have called for a public inquiry into alleged
tax leakage at:
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/releases/07.12.2007
The income trust tax was premised upon the assertion that income trusts
cause so called "tax leakage". This concept has never been proven by the
government to exist, apart from 18 pages of blacked out documents issued by
the Finance Minister, that were subsequently demanded be returned.
As such, Parliament has passed sweeping tax legislation on the basis of
mere assumption. Such an approach undermines Canadian democracy and sound
fiscal management and contradicts the mandate of the Auditor General, whose
website states: "Parliamentarians need objective fact based information on how
well the government raises its funds (taxes)."Where is that information? Meanwhile much harm has arisen because of this
unproven legislation, including:
- $65 billion in trust tax related takeovers, much of it by foreigners
- resultant loss of $1.4 billion in annual taxes to all Canadians, see
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,sid=3634&cid=177044,00.html?WT.mc_i
d=caen_gg_IT_buyout
- $35 billion loss in Canadian hard earned life savings
- $300 million loss in the assets of the Canada Pension PlanTo these myriad negative outcomes, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has
brazenly stated: "It's not my fault".
It's time for the Auditor General to investigate that empty claim. It is
incumbent upon her office to do so.
The Harper Conservative government promised it would usher in a new era
of Accountability and Transparency. By that, Canadians assumed more
accountability and transparency, rather than less.
For further information: contact media@caiti.info or call (647)
505-2224
