I'll get it off my chest.
On the tax-free savings accounts, the key point here is that this is the thin edge of the wedge, and if you allow a $5,000 contribution to those accounts to ramp up year after year after year, you're potentially introducing over time a savings vehicle that could begin to match RRSPs in its size and importance.
The very affluent in our society, the only ones who have maxed out their RRSP savings, are really the only ones who would take advantage of this new fund, at least above a certain limited low threshold.
I do think there are arguments for having some element of savings income free of tax. The fact that older Canadians who are in a low-income situation would qualify for the guaranteed income supplement and would therefore penalize themselves if they saved is a problem that should be addressed. The people on social assistance, I think, should be allowed to have modest amounts of savings. Having a modest amount of savings tax-free is one thing, but to have something that ramps up year after year after year to where it becomes a significant tax shelter isn't up.
Thank you.