I am one of those, 89 years of age, seeking effective advocacy from the Liberal Party

Dear Brent,

This is a letter I sent to Diane Francis on Income Trusts.

Henry Cooke


Dear Diane,

I sincerely appreciate your campaign to oppose the additional tax on Income Trusts imposed by the Finance Minister despite his campaign promise to not impose any additional taxes on these instruments.

Largely, the people who invested in these instruments were older people, with no pension or inadequate pensions who depended on them to provide them with an alternative source of monthly payments.

I am one of those, 89 years of age, who have lost a substantial amount of money after the announcement was made. What surprises me is that there is not a louder outcry from them. The only opposition that I have heard from is from CAITI. It did not seem to hurt the Conservatives in the polls. The NDP, the standard barrier of the oppressed, did not ask for a review of the Bank of Canada estimates of tax loss, though it affected seniors who lost their monthly distributions. The NDP are addicted to new taxes, wherever they come from. CAITI or you should ask for a listing of Income Trusts prior to the announcement of a tax charge, and since then, as to whether they have been bought out by non Canadians or pension funds, with a loss of revenue to the Finance Department.

You have an excellent suggestion for the travails of the automakers and their workers. Give automobile owners a grant of $3000 to $4000 to turn in their old cars as a subsidy to buy new automobiles. In this way, you can encourage consumer purchase of new cars, which is a large component of the GDP, improves the environment, reduces unemployment and makes everybody happy.

I am a conservative but will not vote again for this Conservative party.

Henry Cooke