Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present, yet again, another income trust broken promise petition on behalf of a number of residents from Calgary, Alberta.
The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he boasted about his apparent commitment of accountability when he said “the greatest fraud is a promise not kept”. They remind him that he promised never to tax income trusts, but he broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax, which permanently wiped out over $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Conservative minority government: first, to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions, as shown in the finance committee hearings; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise; and finally, to repeal the punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.