Thursday, January 15, 2009

Back when Harper cared more about seniors than juniors....the Paul Desmarais Juniors of this world, that is


A chronology of events. The sequence of pandering:

Questioning income trusts puts seniors at risk

Stephen Harper
National Post
October 26, 2005

Many seniors feel the government is putting their retirement at risk and have let Ottawa know. In a letter to the Finance Minister, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons said, "Seniors are actually enraged, frightened and panicked about potentially losing retirement savings that they count on for the essentials of daily living."

Income trusts are popular with seniors because they provide regular payments that are used by many to cover the costs of groceries, heating bills and medicine. They also provide tax relief from a government that is addicted to taking too much money from their pockets and spending it without care, and very often without meaningful results.

So one must ask, why is the government clamping down on the retirement savings of seniors and investors?

But it gets worse. Instead of immediately moving to assure markets that income trusts are here to stay, the Liberals are justifying their actions in the coldest political terms. As one government member was quoted in the media as saying about income trust investors, "They have no constituency. They don't count politically."

That kind of arrogance cannot go unanswered. There is just no justification for what amounts to a Liberal government attack on investors, and especially on seniors.

The government continues to overtax Canadians and run multi-billion dollar surpluses, yet their first instinct is to attack an investment vehicle that can make the difference between bare survival and a dignified retirement for millions of Canadians.

Stephen Harper Harper on Global TV during Election 2006
,
December 2, 2005

"When Ralph Goodale tried to tax Income Trusts ... don't forget, don't forget this ...they showed us where they stood. They showed us about their attitudes towards raiding seniors hard earned assets and a Conservative government will never allow either of these parties to get away with that.”

Income-trust crackdown: The inside story
Globe and Mail
November 2, 2006:

“High-profile directors and CEOs, meanwhile, had approached Mr. Flaherty personally to express their concerns: Many felt they were being pressed into trusts because of their duty to maximize shareholder value, despite their misgivings about the structure. Paul Desmarais Jr., the well-connected chairman of Power Corp. of Canada, even railed against trusts in a conversation with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a trip to Mexico, and told him he should act quickly to stop the raft of conversions, according to sources.

1 comment:

Dr Mike said...

Steve my boy , you had it right the first time around--seniors are indeed vulnerable & need protecting from the gov`t as you did say in the media.

The unfortunate thing is that to our dismay , we needed protecting from you.

How quickly you forgot the most vulnerable in society.

And still you expect them to forget.

Ain`t a gonna happen in this lifetime.

The day of reckoning is coming.

Dr Mike Popovich.