Connors Bros. sell itself to private equity

CLICK FOR FULL SIZE IMAGE

C'mon up to Jim Flaherty's Great Canadian Giveaway Sale. Everything Must Go! - CAITI ad, April 4, 2007

"Private Equity found a very difficult environment for about a year and a half with the Income Trust market. The Income Trust market bid up all sorts of properties and it was very difficult for private equity to compete. With the change in the tax laws coming down the pike, opportunities are out there again and we are seeing a lot of deals. The environment has now turned quite good, not particularly good for Income Trusts, but good for Private Equity."
Richard Schmeelk CAI Private Equity, New York, Sept 25, 2007

"It's the law now" Jim Flaherty, Sept 2, 2008

---

Connors Bros. canned-fish trust units jump on news of private equity takeover

TORONTO — Connors Bros. Income Fund units (TSX:CBF.UN) gained more than 30 per cent Friday - rising to near their level a year ago - after an American private equity group struck a deal to take over the fish-canning trust.

Centre Partners Management LLC, with offices in Manhattan and Los Angeles, has signed a deal to buy the Connors Bros. businesses for $8.50 per unit, a total of $437.5 million.

Connors Bros. units, which had closed at $6.23 Thursday before the agreement was announced, rose $2.02 to $8.25 in morning trading.

Units in the trust, whose brands include Bumble Bee, Clover Leaf and Brunswick, traded as low as $4.55 in March after tumbling from the $11 level in mid-2007 amid a botulism food-poisoning recall at its Castleberry's canned-meat subsidiary in the U.S.

Connors Bros. sold Castleberry's last week to Hanover Foods for an undisclosed price.

The deal with Centre Partners, subject to unitholder approval, allows Connors Bros. 45 days to seek a better offer.

Related:
Connors Bros. Income Fund Announces Sale of Business

Who do you believe?

CLICK FOR FULL SIZE IMAGE

The "economist"?

"I should point out to you that the trusts have largely regained their market value over the past couple of years. But that will certainly not be the case when we have a Liberal government raising taxes, raising spending and driving our economy into deficit and recession," Stephen Harper, September 22, 2008


The portfolio manager?

Leslie Lundquist, a portfolio manager for Bissett Income Fund said the tax leakage argument never washed with her, because unitholders in income trusts pay income tax on those investments to the federal government. "I think you could argue that having a public market for income trusts, in fact, increases tax revenues at the end of the day, not decreases them."

Or the tax lawyer?

Tax lawyer Ross Freeman called the proposed change by the Liberals a "step forward. I was never one who believed that income trusts posed the threat to the federal treasury that they [Conservatives]were concerned about," said Freeman, with Borden Ladner and Gervais LLP’s Calgary office. "I think they were actually good for business and hence created more revenue for the government. I’m glad to hear that at least one party, the Liberals, think that was the case."

Related:
Perpetuating the Big Lie

Stephen Harper's proof - 18 blacked out pages

Harper vows to keep income trust tax

Reuters
Mon Sept 22, 2008 11:55am EDT

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper ruled out any reversal of his government's surprise decision in October 2006 to impose a tax on distributions from income trusts, which had become popular investment vehicles.

Harper, campaigning before the October 14 general election, told reporters in Ottawa on Monday that the Conservative government was "forced" to change the income trust rules because corporations were increasingly converting to the tax-sheltered structure, avoiding tax payments to Ottawa.

The main opposition Liberal Party said on Monday that, if it forms the next government, it would replace the planned 31.5 percent tax with a smaller 10 percent rate. Its tax would be refundable for Canadian residents, leaving foreign investors to pay it, and the party projected the tax would bring in C$1 billion in revenue over four years.

But Harper suggested that the other political parties would come to the same conclusion the Conservatives did: changing the tax structure was necessary to stabilize the market.

"Any party that is suggesting it will reverse that is not telling the truth. They will find, and they know just as we knew, that they will have to reverse course," Harper said.

The Conservatives shocked market participants with the Halloween 2006 announcement of the new rules, and market activity that had been driven by income trusts screeched to a stop.

Two of Canada's biggest corporations, telecoms companies Telus Corp and BCE Inc, halted plans to convert into trusts, the Canadian initial public offering market dried up, and BCE has since agreed to be acquired by a private-equity consortium.

Harper also said the government created "very generous" transition arrangements.

"We've allowed income trusts to double in size in the transition period and those taxes actually don't come into effect until 2011, so no income trust has in fact paid any tax," he said.

Related:
Liberals vow to scrap tax on trusts - Globe and Mail

An autopsy of the Telus - BCE deal. How the Harper government favoured Private Equity and turned it's back on Canadian investors.

The environment has now turned quite good for Private Equity

The Conservatives have committed the biggest blunder I've seen in 42 years of business involvement - Seymour Schulich, September 11, 2007

We're open! Campaign Website launched

Brent Fullard invites Canadians from Whitby-Oshawa and all regions of Canada to join his fight against Jim Flaherty and the Conservative government’s dismal mismanagement of the country’s finances.

Visit our website at http://iwork4you.ca

Campaign Office

For more information, to volunteer or to request a lawn sign, call or drop by - we'd love to meet you.

1540 Dundas Street E.
Whitby, ON L1N 2K7

Phone: 905-665-3203
Fax: 905-665-7762

email: brent@iwork4you.ca

Find us on Google Maps

Canadians from all regions of Canada can donate to Brent's campaign, not just residents of Whitby-Oshawa. Make a difference in Canada's future, make a contribution to Brent's effort today.

What you can do to help:

• Volunteer! click here
• Donate what you can afford.
  
• Use the tax credit calculator to determine the actual cost of your donation after your tax credit is applied. Amounts up to $400 will maximize the size of your tax credit.
  
• Campaigns are expensive. We promise to spend your funds wisely and effectively.
• Your financial support in any amount you deem appropriate is greatly appreciated.
  

I want to donate to Brent Fullard's campaign for Whitby-Oshawa (Secure Online Donation by VISA, MasterCard and American Express). Recurring monthly donations gratefully accepted.

Medical journal demands inquiry

16 dead in listeriosis outbreak. '100-per-cent avoidable and unnecessary'

SHARON KIRKEY
Canwest News Service

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Canada's top medical journal is calling for a full-scale public inquiry into the listeriosis outbreak, saying the independent investigation promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be "inferior to every epidemic inquiry in recent Canadian history."

The Canadian Medical Association Journal says that in August, Canada experienced the worst epidemic of listeriosis in the world. As of last night, contaminated cold cuts had killed at least 16 Canadians from among 43 confirmed cases of listeriosis.

Also yesterday, New Brunswick's Health Department issued a statement saying that the death of elderly woman in that province has also been linked to the outbreak.

"Already the death toll is more than double that of the notorious (E. coli) outbreak in Walkerton, Ont.," according to an editorial released ahead of print yesterday. And because listeriosis can remain dormant for two to three months, "the deaths, illnesses and other effects such as spontaneous abortions may not be over yet."

The journal is demanding a public inquiry into the "major failings" of Canada's food inspection system on the same scale as those for the tainted blood scandal, Walkerton and the SARS epidemic, saying Canadians "should settle for nothing less."

"The fact is, this outbreak was 100-per-cent avoidable and unnecessary," says editorial board member Amir Attaran, Canada research chair in law, population health and global development policy at the University of Ottawa.

"If your food supply is safe and free of listeria, no one is going to get listeriosis out of eating the food. It's as simple as that."

The journal says the federal government's lax standards on listeria and a decision to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats from government inspectors to the meat industry "helped bring about this epidemic.

"Yet surprisingly, government has taken no remedial steps beyond issuing a food recall. Instead, officials praise the success of our infectious disease surveillance system - as if, with 16 dead, there were cause to celebrate - while food safety standards remain as low as ever."

"It is not a policy success to say we detected a bad food processing plant because there's the corpse that proves it," Attaran said in an interview.

The government has also handed self-inspection to the operators of animal feed mills and cut back on avian flu preparedness, he says.

Bad animal feed containing recycled animal tissue led to the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalitis, or mad cow disease, while an influenza pandemic could kill "tens of thousands of Canadians."

"Listeriosis pales in comparison. Overall, it would seem that, as a country, Canada is far less prepared now for epidemics than in the past," the journal says.

Attaran said the independent investigation promised by Harper would be closed to public participation and that, according to the terms of references, the investigator won't have the power to subpoena witnesses or documents.

"It's not clear who the so-called judge would be. It's absolutely clear there are no public hearings planned, no opportunity for the public to comment or give evidence or ask questions," Attaran said.

"There is not going to be a public report published at the end, and there's no commitment that the report will be made public to Canadians at large or even to parliament.

"It seems to us at the journal very clear that what this exercise represents is an attempt to neutralize what's fairly obvious government responsibility for this outbreak, but also to neutralize it in a way that will never let the public know precisely what went wrong."

Related:
Listeriosis is the least of it - Canadian Medical Association Journal

Families angry about Ritz's listeriosis jokes - CBC

There's just no talking to Jim Flaherty (for outsiders)

By: John Stewart, mississauganews.com
Photo by: Bitpicture

September 18, 2008 08:14 AM - Canada's high-profile federal finance minister is coming to Mississauga South in the heat of an election campaign for a private fundraising function that will be held tonight.

Jim Flaherty is the guest of honour tonight at a fundraising reception at Port Credit's Waterside Inn for Mississauga South Conservative candidate Hugh Arrison. Guests are paying $250 ($100 for students) to enjoy hors d'oeuvres and light refreshments and for the chance to meet the minister. The event runs from 7:30-9 p.m.

"People have told us they don't want cameras and the media there and we have to listen to the people coming to the event," said Dave Brown, Arrison's campaign manager. If the campaign organizers had their way, the reception would likely be open to the media, Brown added. It was scheduled before the federal election was called.

The campaign manager indicated many riding association members are adamant that the focus should be on those who paid to attend the event.

Brown was not sure yesterday whether there would even be a photo opportunity for the local press.

Flaherty's appearance has special interest in Mississauga because he and Mayor Hazel McCallion have engaged in a running verbal battle over McCallion's insistence that the federal government has failed to provide needed funding for cities in general, and municipal infrastructure in particular.

jstewart@mississauga.net

Related:
In this corner, a Tory minister wearing blinders - Toronto Star

Dion promises $70B infrastructure boost - CBC.ca

Durham a gritty battleground

Urban sprawl changing political face

By Antonella Artuso, Toronto Sun
Photosource: tonyleah

On the first full day of campaigning, Jim Flaherty was testifying at the Louisiana trial of a stockbroker who threatened to kill him and his three sons over his decision to end the tax holiday for income trusts.

The same theme of investor betrayal has followed him to his home riding of Whitby-Oshawa where the Liberal Party nominated the head of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors/Taxpayers as its candidate.

And to cap off his rough week, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion went postal over the sad state of federal support for cities, putting Flaherty, as the GTA voice of the Conservative Party, in the direct line of fire.

Still Flaherty battles on, rejecting the anti-urban allegations.

"I think there's a lot of noise, quite frankly, by Mayor (David) Miller saying we don't help cities," Flaherty said in an interview this week. "But if they actually look at the facts ... this government is a major help to cities, including making the gas tax sharing permanent because that gives the cities, including, of course, the City of Toronto, the opportunity for long-term planning.

"And the mayor of Montreal told me it was the most important item we could do in the budget this year ... he appreciates it even if Mayor Miller doesn't," he said.

It was a difficult start for Flaherty, one of four Conservative incumbents fighting to retain seats in Durham Region -- a vast, 2,950-square-km tapestry of cities, hamlets, farms and cottage country east of Toronto.

By GTA standards, it has been fertile territory for the Harperites, although two of the ridings -- Ajax-Pickering and Pickering Scarborough-East -- are held by Liberals.

Election observers are watching to see what happens to Flaherty, the closest Conservative MP to Toronto, and to Conservative MP Colin Carrie in Oshawa who has drawn heat over his position on waterfront development in that community.

His opponents -- Liberal Sean Godfrey and NDP Mike Shields -- are hoping to capitalize on the situation.

Premier Dalton McGuinty's high profile support of the auto sector -- and his pointed references to the lack of a federal "partner" in his endeavours -- hasn't helped Conservative fortunes in the hard-hit town, either.

No surprise that there was a last minute, pre-election announcement by the Harper government to broker a $290 million investment by GM and to invest up to $80 million in Ford Canada.

In Whitby-Oshawa, Flaherty, known for keeping the home fires burning, will be looking for a political payoff for his local largesse -- which includes a new university, the proposed Hwy. 407 extension and the promised train between Peterborough and Union Station.

The riding is changing as new suburbs grow out of corn fields, bringing residents with Toronto sensibilities into the voting mix.

New Canadians are also settling into the area, bringing their own priorities with them.

While Flaherty has so far withstood the Liberal juggernaut that is the 416 and increasingly the 905, he took his federal riding last time less impressively than expected for a politician known for delivering big-time locally.

His losing battles with McGuinty over corporate tax rates in Ontario didn't do him any political favours, either.

Still, Flaherty says his Liberal opponent this time around is a one-issue candidate parachuted into the community and known for having expressed "extremist" comments.

Brent Fullard, a former executive managing director for BMO Nesbitt Burns and founder of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors/Taxpayers, said he does have roots in the community having worked in the auto manufacturing sector in Oshawa.

The issues facing Whitby-Oshawa, however, are similar in many respects to those across the country, he said.

"Do we have a transparent, open and accountable government? Are we being governed by principles or are we being governed by politics? This very election is being brought to Canadians at the cost of ... $300 million because Harper wanted (an election), for his reasons. We had three by-elections that were one day away from being finished. For me, that's not my version of democracy.

"This is a man who committed by law to not have an election until a fixed election date and then we find out there's some fine print there. So I consider Stephen Harper to be Stephen 'Loophole' Harper," he said.

For two years, Fullard has campaigned on behalf of Canadians who were promised by the Harper government that income trusts would not be taxed only to have Flaherty suddenly announce the opposite.

"I'm not going to Whitby-Oshawa to hold Jim Flaherty responsible for the truck plant shutting down because that's preposterous because that's not his fault ... but I will blame him for the long litany of things that are his fault and I'm going to hold him to account in his riding," Fullard said.

Fullard sent out e-mails in 2007 that drew comparisons between Harper and Adolph Hitler, comments he withdrew as a newly-minted candidate.

"What prompted me to say those inappropriate things that I've now apologized for was when I opened up the (newspaper) in April and I find that the Conservatives are in the name of ethnic outreach programs going around and profiling in every riding in this country people by way of their race, their ethnicity and their religion ... that is so near to the act of discrimination," Fullard said. "I am an extreme candidate insofar as I'm an extremely committed individual to ensuring that truth be told by governments, and that accountability actually means accountability."

The local issue for Fullard is the economy, and he says a Liberal government is fully prepared to follow through on the promises of the Conservative government to invest in GM and Ford.

"And so a Liberal government has made the same commitment as has been agreed to by the Conservatives, and the operative question is -- whose promise are you more apt to rely on?" Fullard said.

The dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs is a pressing issue for all Durham ridings.

The pain is beginning to be felt even in the well-tended streets of Durham surburbia.

Durham Regional Chair Roger Anderson points out the region's social services costs are climbing accordingly.

"I think the government, whichever government's elected, has to get back into social housing," Anderson said. "There's a huge demand across the 905. There's no money. We have a capital repair bill of well over a couple of million dollars that we can't afford that was given to us by the provincial and federal governments."

Anderson also cites the need to unravel the knot that is the 60,000 acres of land set aside for 30 years for the Pickering Airport, which never got off the ground. The issue has vexed politicians and divided locals, some seeing the land as a unique opportunity to preserve green and agricultural lands and others salivating over the vast development potential.

Help Brent Fullard and the Liberals clean up Flaherty's financial mess

Support Brent now. Click here to make your donation.

Brent Fullard invites Canadians from Whitby-Oshawa and all regions of Canada to join his fight against Jim Flaherty and the Conservative government’s dismal mismanagement of the country’s finances.

“Canada’s economy is the worst in the G7. Canada has now had its worst performance in 17 years – since Brian Mulroney. The economy is slumping. Hard working Canadians are losing their jobs and what does this government do? Insult them and abandon them with laissez-faire, I don’t care policies,” according to Mr. Dion.

“Conservatives do not understand the 21st century economy. The cost of fossil fuels is only going to go up. The only long term solution is to invest in the green economy and renewable alternatives. The Conservative short-sighted approach will only delay the inevitable.

“A Liberal government will invest in partnership with Canadians by cutting taxes for families, investing in the manufacturing sector and building strong jobs. By building Canada as a leader in the green economy we will build a strong economy for today and the next generation.”

Mr. Dion made his comments at a Liberal rally with Ajax-Pickering MP Mark Holland and was joined by Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum and Associate Finance Critic Martha Hall Findlay in welcoming the newest member of the Liberal team, candidate Brent Fullard, who is running in Mr. Flaherty’s riding of Whitby-Oshawa.

Mr. Fullard founded the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors to fight Mr. Flaherty's decision to tax income trusts after the Conservatives promised not to.

“As a former General Motors employee and leading income trust investor advocate, Mr. Fullard knows all too well how Mr. Flaherty and his government have betrayed and abandoned Canadians,” said Mr. Holland. “Mr. Flaherty and his Prime Minister left investors bleeding and auto workers unemployed. This is not good economic management.

“It was a Liberal government that swept up after the last Conservative government, and we will do it again. We will build on our party’s solid history of job creation, balanced budgets and progressive tax cuts – working with Canadians, not against them.”

Mr. McCallum pointed out how in the dying days of the Harper government, Conservatives racked up almost $9 billion in pre-election spending promises – including a couple of funding announcements for the ailing auto sector.

“This government thinks it can ignore the auto sector for two-and-a-half years and then make a photo-op announcement on the eve of an election and everything will be alright,” said Mr. McCallum. “This is the same government that, prior to the writ dropping, refused to make investments in auto sector capital and innovation, calling them ‘band-aid solutions.’ The result of that negligence has been devastating, and nowhere has that devastation been felt more than in this region of Ontario.”

Ms. Hall Findlay said that while Ontario sits in the midst of the biggest economic downturn in years, Minister Flaherty does nothing but attack his home province.

“He called Ontario ‘the last place to invest’ and Premier Dalton McGuinty the ‘small man of Confederation’ for defending the principles of democracy,” she said. “He told Ontario mayors that he was not in the ‘pothole business’ and dismissed the huge infrastructure deficit they face by calling them ‘whiners.’

“The residents of Ontario – and all of Canada – need a government that is going to stick by them and work with them every day to find long-term solutions, not sit back and insult them in their time of need,” she said.

Mr. Fullard said he was proud to be joining the Liberal team because of Mr. Dion’s plan to build the Canada of the future through partnership with Canadian businesses.

“Canadians have had enough of Mr. Flaherty’s broken promises,” he said. “The income trust fiasco – which cost investors some $35 billion – is just one of a string of betrayals that Mr. Flaherty is going to have to explain to the residents of Whitby-Oshawa. Even worse is that this broken promise is predicated on the false premise that income trusts cause tax leakage.”

Canadians from all regions of Canada can donate to Brent's campaign, not just residents of Whitby-Oshawa. Make a difference in Canada's future, make a contribution to Brent's effort today.

What you can do to help:

• Donate what you can afford.
  
• Use the tax credit calculator to determine the actual cost of your donation after your tax credit is applied. Amounts up to $400 will maximize the size of your tax credit.
  
• Campaigns are expensive. We promise to spend your funds wisely and effectively.
• Your financial support in any amount you deem appropriate is greatly appreciated.
  

I want to donate to Brent Fullard's campaign for Whitby-Oshawa (Secure Online Donation by VISA, MasterCard and American Express). Recurring monthly donations gratefully accepted.

Liberal Candidate for Whitby-Oshawa seeks information on the losses sustained by the Canada Pension Plan

as a result of Jim Flaherty's income trust betrayal

TORONTO, Sept. 11 /CNW/ - Today Liberal Candidate for Whitby-Oshawa, Brent Fullard delivered a letter to the CEO of the CPPIB seeking detailed information on the losses sustained by the Canada Pension Plan, and therefore all Canadians, as result of Jim Flaherty's income trust betrayal.

For further information or a copy of the letter please email:
brent.fullard@rogers.com

---

September 11, 2008

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
One Queen Street East
Suite 2600, P.O. Box 101
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2W5
Canada

Dear Mr. Denison, President & CEO:

Re: The losses sustained by the Canada Pension Plan by Jim Flaherty’s Income Trust Tax

I am writing to you as the federal Liberal Candidate in the upcoming election for the riding of Whitby-Oshawa, the riding of Canada’s Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty which as you know will be taking place on October 14, 2008.

It is important to voters in “Whitby-Oshawa” that their representative in Ottawa is acting in a responsible and prudent manner at all times. The same is true for all Canadians insofar as their Finance Minister is concerned. This inquiry concerns Mr Flaherty’s policy to tax an aribitrailiy selected subset flow through investment vehicles but not others, such as his law firm tax flow through vehicle Flaherty Dow Elliott & McCarthy, which pays no taxes.

In order to accurately inform Canadians of one of the many ways in which Mr. Flaherty’s policy to tax publicly traded income trusts, (and not all other firms of trusts, including REITs) negatively affects all Canadians, I am requesting from you detailed information on the “mark to market” impact of this tax on the public income trust portfolio holdings of the Canada Pension Plan.

I cite the following from your website:

“While the CPP Investment Board operates at arm’s length from governments, we are subject to very rigorous accountability requirements. Accountability is deeply ingrained in the CPP Investment Board's legislation, governance and in the policies and practices of the board, officers and employees.”

It is in this regard that I am writing to you, as Canadians are in need of accountability on the issue of the taxation of public income trusts and the impact it has had on their retirement assets within the Canada Pension Plan.

Unfortunately the level of portfolio disclosure afforded Canadians concerning the income trust holdings of the Canada Pension Plan and the timing of the tax announcement (October 31s, 2006) means that there is insufficient public information to make this calculation with absolute precision, due to timing differences and limited disclosure.

However a close approximation of the loss sustained by the Canada Pension Plan can be made, as follows.

On October 29, 2007 , the CPP income trust holdings (excluding REITs) held by CPP on March 31, 2007 had declined in value by $173,346,000 if those holdings had remained in place from the announcement date (October 31, 2006) onward.

On September 8, 2008 , the CPP income trust holdings (excluding REITs) held by CPP on March 31, 2007 had declined in value by $206,935,000 if those holdings had remained in place from the announcement date (October 31, 2006) onward.

We seek more detailed disclosure from you on the holdings of public income trusts by the Canada Pension Plan on October 31, 2006 and various points in time, specifically two weeks, six months, twelve months and eighteen months after the announcement as well as presently, in order to ascertain the absolute level of loss experienced by all Canadians and to demonstrate the fact that the loss incurred at the outset has been sustained over time, as is concluded from our analysis and as corroborated by the sustained loss in the broader income trust index.

In the event that the various investment positions held in the CPP have been sold at points during these various periods of time, please perform a “run down” analysis in which it is assumed that the monies received from the sale of public income trusts were not reinvested, but remained as cash at the time of sale to the end of the time period in question.

We request this information from you on a timely basis in order that your findings can be fully disseminated to the voting public. well in advance of the October 14, 2008 election date on this important policy matter affecting the retirement security of all Canadians, both inside and outside the CPP.

If you have any questions please call me at 647 505 2224 (cell)

Thank you in advance,

Yours truly



Brent Fullard
Liberal Candidate for Whitby–Oshawa

Campaign Headquarters
1540 Dundas St E.
Whitby ON
L1N 2K7

Jim Flaherty's worst nightmare

Posted: September 07, 2008, 2:47 PM by Diane Francis
Income Trust Debacle, Greed, Canadian Politics


Canada's Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, has made a number of foolish policy decisions during his tenure and his nemesis, investment banker Brent Fullard, is taking a run at him in this Oct. 14 election. The sparks will fly and Mr. Flaherty had better bone up on his debating skills and go to school on the economics, taxation, forex, stock market and investor implications which he obvious did not do before making two egregious errors:

1. First and foremost, the income trust fiasco (which wasn't necessary and damaged 2.5 million Canadians Conservatives who invest in the stock market; damaged the junior oil sector by eliminating an important player and damaged Canada's taxpayers by sparking a leveraged buyout mania of income trusts. Damage will be long-lasting because the buyers are private equity and foreigners which have borrowed heavily and will write off all the cash flow against debt service costs, thus avoiding taxes for decades.

2. Scrapping withholding taxes to foreigners who are using Canadian-generated cash flow to service their foreign debts. This is a made-in-Goldman-Sachs policy which enhances the hollowing out of Canadian corporations.

Rumors are also that Buzz Hargrove will run against Flaherty in the car-heavy riding, but massive grants to GM may forestall that. Besides, his candidacy might split the vote which would otherwise go to the angry Mr. Fullard.

Here is Brent's press release and contact information:

WHITBY-OSHAWA, Sept. 7 /CNW/ - The Whitby-Oshawa Federal Liberal Riding Association today announces that Brent Fullard will be the candidate for theriding of Whitby-Oshawa, subject to confirmation at a candidates meeting scheduled for Tuesday September, 9, 2008.

Known for his tireless enthusiasm and dedication, Brent Fullard has devoted considerable time on a strictly volunteer basis as the CEO of Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors / Taxpayers, a group he founded to advocate for accountability and transparency from the Harper government and to reveal the government's lies about so-called tax leakage.

In 1979, immediately upon graduation from Queen's University, Brent began work at the General Motors Car Assembly Plant in Oshawa.

Thereafter, he spent over 20 years in Canadian capital markets, recently as Executive Managing Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets for BMO Nesbitt Burns and presently as the Head of Catalyst Asset Management, who were active in their opposition to the junk bond leveraged buyout of BCE before the CRTC and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Brent's experience also covers the Canadian oil and gas industry in the time he worked at Dome Petroleum in the early 80's.

Brent Fullard stated today: "I look forward to campaigning in Whitby-Oshawa against the practices and policies of the Stephen Harper government and outline why I believe Ontario is a great place to live, work and invest, and how we can make it even better."

Brent has been married to Christina for 20 years, and together they have three teenaged children.

For further information:
Brent@JimHadHisChance.ca
(647) 505-2224

Related:
Jim Flaherty challenge: debate income trusts - Diane Francis

Flaherty explains why he won't change rules on Income Trusts

"It's the law now" Jim Flaherty's reason for not revising IT double taxation rules that destroyed $35 Billion of Canadian's savings on October 31, 2006.

"It may be the law, however the full destructive effects don’t kick in until 2011. There’s still time to avert disaster. Meanwhile it's pathetic how bad laws, based on Lies and Myths, are easy for Tory's to uphold but good laws like Election Timing are easy to break." Brent Fullard, CAITI




Related:
Flaherty refuses the $50,000 debate challenge - CAITI

$50,000 offered in scholarships if Flaherty will debate income trust tax - The Green Party

Flaherty's proof, 18 pages of blacked out documents

Let Elizabeth speak about Income Trusts!

Elizabeth May and the Green Party support calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to launch a public inquiry into Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s unproven allegation that income trusts result in a loss of tax revenue to Ottawa.

Here is your chance to to ensure that Green Party leader Elizabeth May is included in the leaders’ debates and speak on issues important to all of us.

Consider signing the petition at: http://letelizabethspeak.ca/

Related:
Green Party calls for inquiry into the alleged tax leakage of income trusts
Canadians want Green Party leader in debates, poll shows