Mr. Thomas, you recently referred to the income splitting, saying that the pledge was “written on the back of an envelope as the campaign bus pulled out of Ottawa”, and that it's “been denounced by every credible economic think tank, representing every shade of the political spectrum.” You also said that even the Department of Finance has weighed in, with an analysis that was “so damning that nearly everything but the commas was redacted before it was released to the public.” You go further: “What's worse, writing income splitting” into the tax act, topping off the Harper government’s inventory of boutique tax credits, “could collapse the book shelf”.
We haven't had a serious analysis or reform of our personal tax system since 1971, with the Carter commission. Is now the time to actually do a thorough study, with the objective being a fairer, simpler, and potentially more competitive tax system?