Garth Turner returns to Ontario and invites you to a Town Hall Meeting in Owen Sound

Garth Turner to host Owen Sound Town Hall meeting

MP wants voter input on federal issues – Income trusts, economy, real estate, Afghanistan, the environment

Voters, taxpayers and constituents in the Owen Sound region will get a rare chance on Thursday September27th to send a message directly to Parliament when outspoken MP Garth Turner hosts a public Town Hall meeting locally. While residents are free to raise any topic they wish, the Conservative government’s decisions to tax income trusts, and raise personal income tax – breaking specific promises by Prime Minister Stephen Harper – are likely to spark a hot debate.

The income trust move is believed to have cost more than two million investors, most of them seniors, more than $20 billion in lost retirement savings. That is the greatest private loss ever to result directly from one government action, and came as a shock to voters after Mr. Harper promised repeatedly in the last election campaign that he would never impose such a tax.

Turner says many homeowners and investors are also concerned abut the real estate meltdown in the United States, and the potential for that to affect people here. He will address those concerns in a presentation, “What every Homeowner and Investors must know.”

MP Turner, ousted by Stephen Harper last fall for his opposition to several Conservative positions, has been a champion of jilted investors, and will bring an action plan to the meeting for those anxious to know what their alternatives are. Turner joined the federal Liberal caucus in February, after sitting as an Independent member of Parliament for four months, for the west GTA riding of Halton.

“I have heard from many people in Ottawa, and across the country, very unhappy that their Conservative MPs, like Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound’s Larry Miller, have refused to call such a meeting,” Turner says. “They seem only too happy to hide in Ottawa these days where Mr. Harper has rewarded severely muzzled his caucus and taken actions which seriously call into question his stated goal of having an open and accountable government.”

Turner says Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper need to explain to Ottawa residents not only why income trusts were taxed, but also why so many Canadian companies have been purchased as a result recently by foreign firms. Garth Turner, a noted personal finance author before going to Parliament, says he is also concerned by the government’s move to raise income tax and bring in an inflationary budget with record spending which has increased loan and mortgage rates later this year. He said that is endangering the economy, as the United States falls into recession.

Attendance at the Owen Sound meeting is free, and all are welcome to attend.

BRUCE GREY SIMCOE

Owen Sound, Ontario

Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Owen Sound Legion – 1450 2nd Avenue West

A social ‘meet-&-greet’ event will precede the meeting, in the same location.

For more information contact:
Esther Shaye
(905) 693-0166
esther@garth.ca