It was a stunning weekend in southern Ontario – warm, sunny, with enough golden, orange and red leaves left on the trees to make the countryside nothing less than spectacular. Definitely, it was the last hurrah for all the guys on motorcycles, who were massing in a parking lot on Dundas Street in the late morning on Sunday, as I drove to my designated door-knocking territory in north Oakville.
Later in the day, my country store near the Forks of the Credit – one of the three businesses I have in the hills of Caledon – was slammed by bikers and other visitors. The staff was overwhelmed, and reinforcements had to be called in from the nearby Inn to deal with the deluge. I felt guilty not being there to help them cope, but – given the unbelievable weather – my mission was clear: Banging on the maximum number of doors.
And it sure went well. As I wrote here late Saturday, I got to 179 homes that day, and just over 200 yesterday. It was a personal best for me, and I felt pretty satisfied by the time I got back in the newfound standard-time darkness last night. The reception was entirely consistent with what I have been encountering for months, even in this area of newly-built homes. People were welcoming, friendly and familiar. It was apparent that my efforts to get into the news pages of the local media are working as I had hoped. Every day in Halton, I get more like wallpaper.
So, here we have a big week looming. Gomery on Tuesday – the last, flickering opportunity for the opposition guys to bring the tottering Martin government down this year. If they miss this chance, or misjudge it, or decide the gamble is not worth it, then I am pretty much relegated to knocking on doors – in the snow – for another five months.
Sure, I can do that, and I will, but I’d rather be into an election campaign by the end of this week. Our team is ready. We have a major fundraiser Wednesday night with Laureen Harper. We have a campaign office that even has furniture in it. We have arterial signs sitting in Patric’s garage. We have hundreds of volunteers (I got three more yesterday) and we have valuable experience working together as a group. We have door-knocked for five months, had a series of successful Town Hall meetings, dominated the local media, attended fall fairs, community events and barbeques.
I have been to more than 6,000 doors, and we have distributed over 8,000 copies of my Voter’s Guide. This blog has now received 1.8 million hits, and every day I am getting more feedback from people who live here and are eager to join the campaign.
But, beyond Halton, we have a federal government that has shocked people with its disregard for taxpayer money – for the culture of arrogance and waste that’s developed in Ottawa. People like Dingwall, Volpe and Pettigrew are the poster boys for expense account excess. Ralph Goodale is ripping off seniors as he attacks their income trusts. Paul Martin’s entire government is at war with the middle class as it taxes unfairly, redistributes wealth from the middle to everywhere else, forces mortgage rates higher with a 15% surge in program spending and – tomorrow with the Gomery report – shows a deep disregard for morality and ethics.
Will enough Canadians share this anger to convince the opposition leaders to defeat the Liberals? I can only hope. It’s time to let slip the dogs of war.
7 comments ↓
I’ll even throw in a can of Alpo.
Goodale knows he screwed up royally on this one. It’s his ingrained Liberal arrogance (hence the finger wagging during his ROB TV interview) that’s keeping him from admitting it. The tremendous loss in revenue already incurred for the sake of trying to save a few hundred mil would be downright laughable if not for the tremendous hit that portfolios have taken. It really does expose the fiscal incompetence of this government. It will be a sweet day when Brad Farquhar sends him packing, and Ralphie boy can take pride in leaving office with the knowledge that he was perhaps the most short-sighted, ineffective and DAMAGING finance minister in Canadian history.
Garth, do see how boring your blog is without me? Hardly any responses and rebutals. Too bad Peter Kent does not have a blog. Tell your fellow candidates to start a blog so I have someone else to pester.
Mr. Turner,
How do you respond to Don MacDonald in today’s Gazette as he calls the CPC “self serving” on this issue?
Ask the million seniors who hold income trust units and the millions of others with exposure through mutual funds. Ask the public and private pension funds who have invested billions in income trust units to help meet pension obligations. Do they not deserve to have their issue raised? Why is it, when someone points out an issue of Liberal abuse or incompetence, they are “self-serving’? — Garth
Mr. Turner,
In response, I would say, because some “journalists” are parrotting Liberal talking points. Why couldn’t MacDonald have based his story purely on the financial aspects and left politics out of it. I agree that every time Liberal sleaze is exposed some reporter will try to blame it on the Opposition party. Will you be doing a rebuttal to MacDonald’s “story” in one of your financial columns?
You bet. — Garth
Caught Gary Carr on CTV this morning. He looks like he has already been beaten. And that was just answering questions about Gomery. Someone in the Liberal Party must have decided that Gary needed some exposure to help in the next election. Keep at ‘em.
Paul
Charlottetown, PEI
November 2, 2005
What will Ottawa do about income trusts?
ELLEN ROSEMAN
The controversy about income trusts continues to grow, as their market value keeps falling.
It’s been six weeks since Finance Minister Ralph Goodale made his announcement about rescinding advance approvals of income trust conversions.
I’ve been devouring the news coverage — and I’ve come to a few conclusions:
- Investors can’t argue they had no warnings.
Goodale had already tried to change the rules in March 2004. Worried about tax deferral, he tried to put caps on income trust purchases by tax-exempt pension funds.
The budget measure never went ahead, because of stiff opposition from Bay Street.
I’m sure that was an embarrassment for Goodale — and may account for his current contempt toward industry-led lobbying.
- The income trust party was too good to last.
Just as a giddy love affair turns into dull domesticity, Canada’s securities markets couldn’t remain endlessly infatuated with a high-yield payout vehicle.
Investors have earned twice as much on trust distributions as on government bonds, fixed-term deposits and blue-chip stock dividends. They also enjoyed healthy increases in unit value.
Extra-high earnings don’t stay coupled forever with oversize capital gains. Once the romance faded — and it had to happen — the market would start pricing income trusts more realistically.
It was also clear that initial public offerings had turned into a stampede. Companies were bending themselves out of shape to raise capital, using the trust structure.
There was a clear and present danger in the rapid growth of income trusts. Those who put most of their money into this sector have only themselves, or their advisers, to blame for wishful thinking.
- Ottawa waited too long and then acted precipitously.
After striking out in 2004, Goodale presented a budget the following year that talked about income trusts — but did nothing.
Only in September did his department publish a balanced consultation paper, which laid out a number of options for consideration.
There were no hints, no signals, no media leaks, that anything would happen soon.
Why did the government ask for public input until Dec. 31 if it had already decided to clamp down on the growth of income trusts?
No wonder ordinary investors and Bay Street executives feel betrayed. This isn’t a fair way to play politics, when billions of dollars are at stake.
- The minority Liberals can’t bring in major tax reform right now.
With a federal election coming in months, Canada’s ruling party can’t afford to alienate any big voting blocks.
Imposing new taxes on income trusts would anger investors, especially the 50-plus boomers who are investing for retirement.
The Liberals would be crazy to tangle with a group that is educated, articulate and extremely effective at putting pressure on politicians.
Cutting taxes on corporate dividends would help level the playing field with income trusts. It’s a solution favoured by Bay Street.
But the New Democratic Party, led by Jack Layton, has already rolled back a Liberal plan to cut corporate taxes last spring.
The NDP, now in a position to topple the government, would never agree to lower dividend taxes or an enhanced dividend tax credit for investors.
There’s another proposal that may be more attractive politically. The Liberals could stop future conversions to income trusts, while grandfathering the rest.
But a ban on conversions wouldn’t work. Companies that wanted to raise capital through a trust structure could simply merge with existing income trusts.
- The Liberals may do nothing at all.
They’re boxed in by opposition from powerful voters and the NDP. It makes sense to wait for the next election (and the hoped-for majority in parliament).
They’re not even sure how much tax revenue is being lost to income trusts.
The consultation paper talks about tax leakage of $300 million a year.
But cutting taxes on dividends would be far more expensive, costing up to $2 billion a year.
With all this uncertainty, Goodale may want to sit tight for now. By stopping advance approvals, he looks like he’s doing something without changing any laws or shaking up the tax system.
Meanwhile, he’s achieved his goal of striking fear into investors and halting the runaway growth in the trust market.