Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, panel.
What a remarkable statement to begin with by Mr. McCallum. Today the leader of the opposition came out and demanded a complete moratorium on foreign investment and takeovers in Canada. Mr. McCallum started off by saying that he can't believe anybody would move to limit foreign investment. My goodness, sometimes the double-speak from the Liberal Party is absolutely shocking.
Having said that, I would like to ask a couple of questions.
Mr. Kesteven, recently we've seen that markets in Canada, whether the TSX or even the income trust index, have moved up sharply. Investors, especially those who followed good, sound investment principles, with well-diversified portfolios, are doing very well.
In fact, you said that no stability was brought forward, no clarity. The finance minister went to great lengths to bring clarity. The only lack of clarity is coming from the Liberal Party, as it continues to put forward motion after motion on this.
The government has put this in the budget; we intend to move forward on it. We have the support of the Bloc, of every single province in the country, and of people such as David Dodge from the Bank of Canada, who said the long-term effects of not acting.... Let me quote him, because I don't want to be inaccurate. John, you're going to enjoy this:
By giving incentives that led to the inappropriate use of the income trust form of organization, the tax system was actually creating inefficiencies in capital markets, inefficiencies that, over time, would lead to lower levels of investment, output and productivity.
That may be what the Liberal Party wants, but it's not what our government wants.
So having said that, the finance minister laid out all the criteria for the period leading up to 2011. What part of this isn't clear enough? I would like to get clarity, so that people can understand and do proper planning. I would like to understand what part of that is not clear.