Mr. Speaker, this is a question that has been of considerable concern to the members from Windsor and to members in a great number of communities right across Canada.
As the House knows, we have been deep in discussion with the United States on this matter for some time now. When I was in the Philippines this past weekend for a meeting of APEC I discussed the issue again with my counterpart, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin.
I am pleased to say that the Prime Minister announced today that Canadian and United States officials have today initialled an agreement to modify the Canada-U.S. tax treaty.
Once it is formally signed and ratified, today's agreement will bring much needed tax relief to thousands of Canadian seniors and persons with disabilities. Because at modest levels of income Canadian tax rates are much lower than the withholding tax the U.S. could apply, thousands of Canadians-