I'll just close with this. There are a lot of situations where separation is inevitable, and it will happen, but there might be one, two, or three tax years before it's resolved. I think this is just a way to ensure that the financial assets that the couple had are broken down in a way that will ensure that they are at least financially whole. If a judge agrees to it by decree, or a “competent tribunal” does, as said in the amendment, it would be a means of ensuring at least financially speaking that they would be made whole.
The definition in subsection 160(4) is too narrow, according to that joint committee. In an equalization arrangement, a spouse would receive a significant dividend, potentially, on the share the spouse already owns. That dividend will also now be protected by paragraph (b.1).
It's too narrow in scope. If you broaden it a bit and allow the court to say yea or nay on this, it would allow that space for individual situations that may vary. If you run a bakery and have a holding company or an operating company—I understand what the rule changes are—and there's a marriage breakdown, on that particular one you're not talking about a lot of money. You're maybe talking about the business itself, or maybe a mortgage. It's just allowing a judge to have that latitude to determine what will be taxed and what wouldn't be and under what conditions. I think it's a way to ensure some fairness. That's the point of this.