Finance committee  There was an OECD study on tax-assisted savings done in 2003-04. What that showed is that if you want to encourage savings by the lower income earners and middle-income earners you should have subsidies or grants similar to the RESP. If that's the target group that you're trying

Finance committee  I would agree with that. In the information we looked at from the British experience, that was one of the conclusions of the ISA study. What happened in the U.K., as I said, was the ISAs were introduced in 1999, and they had a sunset clause that they were going to be under revie

Finance committee  There's insufficient data right now on the accumulation of capital and just exactly—

Finance committee  There's insufficient data. There isn't enough information yet on the impact that the TFSA will have on the accumulation of capital. We just don't have the numbers yet.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  I am.

Finance committee  Actually, I can explain that. Once again from the British experience, what we noted was that the dominant contributor to the ISAs in the U.K. were males. What we also noticed in the British experience is that there were some contributions.... For example, the maximum contributio

Finance committee  Well, the problem with that from a tax policy point of view is that the foundation of the income tax system in Canada is that the individual is the taxpaying unit in Canada, and there are specific rules in the Income Tax Act, for example, that disallow the transfer of income from

Finance committee  I do.

Finance committee  —1999.

Finance committee  I am here today to address provisions of Bill C-59 dealing with changes to the tax-free savings account, specifically the proposed increase of the TFSA annual contribution limit from the current $5,500 to $10,000. I speak against this very large increase of more than 80% on the