Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 and as certified by the Clerk of Petitions, I am pleased to present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of my constituent, Mr. Jeffrey Robinson, of Mississauga South.
He remembers the Prime Ministerboasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said “the greatest fraud is a promise not kept”.
The petitioners, who are in fact all from my riding, remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts but he broke that promise and imposed a 31.5% punitive tax that permanently wiped out over $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.
The petitioners therefore call upon the government, first, to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions, as shown in the finance committee hearings; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise; and finally, to repeal the punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.