The income trust fiasco is just one of several financial missteps by the fiscally-challenged Minister of Finance and his puppet-master, but probably one of the most damaging to Canada’s economy.
Now Diane Francis (National Post) again brings the incompetence of the government on this issue to the forefront with a report claiming that “A B.C. by-election was lost as a result of the income-trust flip flop and was a critical issue according to the losing Tory candidate.”
The article goes on, quoting Sue Riddell Rose, CEO of Paramount Energy Trust:
Ottawa's attack has ruined the junior oil sector, too, since October, 2006, despite soaring oil prices, she said.
"The junior oil sector is no longer vibrant. There is no exit strategy, which was to sell oil and gas assets to trusts," she said. Put another way, if oil prices had remained the same as when Flaherty made his tax announcement on Oct. 31, 2006, the oilpatch would be in "dire" straits. "They did not do their homework. They did not understand the industry and they have deceived the Canadian public," she said.
....
She said a rough guess is that Flaherty's folly has cost governments at least $1-billion in tax revenues ...
This was all a massive fraud perpetrated on Canadian taxpayers and income trust investors, and as I said back in December, is one issue that will not go quietly into the night. Nor do we want it to.
No comments:
Post a Comment