Income Trusters in Toronto area, here is your chance to meet Dion.

The Liberal Party developed an Income Trust Policy in an effort to counter the damage done by Harper's Conservatives.

Here is your chance to ask Stephane Dion your questions about the plan to make Income Trusts a viable option for Canadian Investors again.

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Garth Turner hosts Dion at major public forum

Citizens will be asked for views on economy, environment

Federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion is coming August 20th, to meet the people. Hosted by MP Garth Turner, Dion will be centre stage at an important Town hall meeting in which citizens can ask him about the big issues facing southern Ontario, and Canada.

"Now that Stephen Harper has threatened an election in a few months," Turner says, "it's key that people know where our leaders stand. Stephane Dion is the only one making this effort to get out and ask us all what kind of Canada we want, and how best to cope with the problems which need urgent solutions. I'm encouraging everyone – Liberal supporters or critics – to come and make up their own minds."

Turner cites recent job losses in the manufacturing sector as a priority, along with rising energy costs, falling real estate values and mounting family financial stress. He also says Dion will be outlining his Green Shift proposal, which would see personal income taxes slashed, and taxes imposed instead on polluters responsible in part for climate change.

"Dion has won the admiration of people across the country for meeting real voters face-to-face," Turner says. "He's not afraid of the tough questions we should all be asking of our politicians, now that the economy's turned sour and the federal government seems to be drifting. This is a chance for everyone in the region to get out and make their voices heard, so policy in Ottawa can better mirror public wishes."

The Town Hall meeting takes place Wednesday, August 20th at 7:30 pm.

Location: SVCC Hall (St. Volodymyr). 1280 Dundas Street, Oakville (between Trafalgar Rd. and Bronte Rd.).

Admission is free, and seating is on a first come-first served basis.

Seats may be reserved by calling (905) 693-0166, or emailing mp@garth.ca.

For more information:
Esther Shaye (905) 693-0166

MEDIA NOTE: Media availability with Stephane Dion will be provided. Details to follow.

Plan to attend one of Garth Turner's Town Hall Meetings

Garth Turner wants to hear your views on Income Trusts and other issues important to you. Here is your chance to meet an MP who will listen to you.



Woodstock:

Sunday, February 17th, 2 to 4 pm
Quality Inn, Woodstock
Take 401 to exit 232


Oakville:

Tuesday, February 19th, 7:00 pm
Oakville Town Hall, Oakville Room
1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville

Milton:

Wednesday, February 20th, 7:00 pm
Milton Sports Centre, Meeting Room 4
605 Santa Maria Blvd., Milton


Burlington:

Thursday, February 21st, 7:00 pm
Burlington Library, Tansley Woods Branch
1996 Itabashi Way, Burlington

More information contact Esther Shaye at (905)693-0166

John McCallum, the Liberal Party Finance critic, is visiting the Lower Mainland.

John McCallum, the Liberal Party Finance critic, is visiting the Lower Mainland. Details of a public event at which members can hear Mr McCallum speak on economic issues, and in particular the income trust issue, have been set.

Mr McCallum will be speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in Vancouver on Wednesday September 26th, 6pm (til 7:45pm) at St. Andrew's Wesley United Church, 1012 Nelson St., hosted by local Liberal MPs and CRIIA.

This will be an opportunity to discuss the income trust issue, and hear more about what can be done, and encourage him and the Liberal party to keep pursuing this issue.

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

Western Town Halls - Garth Turner's 'Lost Tory Tour'

Courtesy of: The Turner Report

More than a dozen public Town Hall meetings in ten Western Canadian cities have been called to let voters speak, and to hear MP Garth Turner. The meetings form the central part of "The Lost Tory Tour" Turner is on during the first two weeks of September, and will take place in Winnipeg, LaBroquerie, Regina, Kelowna, Vancouver, Surrey, Abbotsford, Victoria, Duncan, Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Edmonton.

All of the events have been organized by local residents, and will take place at no cost to taxpayers. Garth Turner is scheduled to speak on the topic of "What every investor and homeowner should know," and will deal with the current economic and financial reality faced by Canadian families.

Town Halls will take place in some locations where voters have had little, if any, opportunity to interact directly with an MP. "Given some of the recent decisions of the federal government," Turner says, "such as raising income tax, reversing course on income trusts, vastly increasing government spending or letting mortgage rates rise, it's only responsible to let folks speak directly to a member of the House of Commons."

Turner, elected as a Conservative in January of 2006, was expelled from the Stephen Harper caucus last October. After sitting as an independent MP for four months, he joined the federal Liberal caucus in February, 2007. Turner has been described as a lifelong Conservative, having been twice elected as an MP, and having served as a cabinet minister and run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party of Canada. In addition, he's been a best-selling personal finance author, broadcaster, columnist and lecturer.

"The fact these meetings are even taking place is significant," Turner says. "I would not be on this trip if I'd not been invited by people living in these communities. By and large, they have responded to my digital democracy initiative, and asked me through my blog to come and meet them, and their neighbours, in person. It is a great honour to do so

"It's also interesting to note a tour like this would never take place," Turner said, "were I still a member of Mr. Harper's caucus. Stephane Dion believes, as I do, that an MP's place is among the people, not being cloistered and controlled in Ottawa."

Schedule of confirmed Town Hall meetings, September 4-13, 2007.

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

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LaBroquerie, Manitoba, Sept 4 at 3 pm

LaBroquerie Hotel

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Winnipeg, Sept 4 at 7 pm

Crescent Wood Centre
1170 Corydon Ave.

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Regina, Sept 5 at 7 pm

Travel Lodge
4177 Albert Street

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Duncan, Sept 6 at 5 pm

Warmland Café
The corner of Station and Craig St.

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Victoria, Sept 6 at 7 pm

Monterey Centre
1442 Monterey Ave.

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Surrey, Sept. 7 at 7:30 pm

Strawberry Hill Hall,
12152, 75 Avenue

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Vancouver, Sept 8 at 10 am

Holiday Inn
700 Old Lillooet Rd.

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Abbotsford, Sept 9 at 2 pm

Matsqui Auditorium
32315 South Fraser Way

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Kelowna, Sept 10 at 2 pm

Holiday Park Resort
415 Commonwealth Rd.

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Kelowna, Sept 10 at 7 pm

Mission Activity Centre
4398 Hobson Rd.

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Edmonton, Sept 11 at 2 pm

Stanley Milner Library
7 Sir W. Churchill SW

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Edmonton, Sept 11 at 7 pm

Old Timer’s Cabin
9430 Scona Rd.

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Red Deer, Sept 12 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

Dino’s Family Restaurant
4617 Gaetz Avenue

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Calgary, Sept 12 at 2:30 pm

Engineered Air Theatre
205 8th Ave.E.

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Calgary, Sept 12 at 7 pm

Ross Glen Hall, Mt. Royal Col.
4845 Mt. Royal Gate SW

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Lethbridge, Sept 13 at 7 pm

Royal Cdn Legion
324 Mayor Magrath Dr.S.


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

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Lost Tory Tour BACKGROUNDER

Who is sponsoring this tour?

MP Turner is traveling to communities in response to local invitations, from local Liberal MPs, candidates, or readers of his blog. There is no sponsoring or umbrella group.

Is the Liberal Party behind this?

No, but the office of the party president and the leader have assisted with some details, such as coordinating local meeting notices.

How have events such as Town Halls been organized?

All events, including public meetings, stakeholder group meetings, speeches, mainstreeting and a motorcycle run, have been organized by local citizens and community groups.

Who is paying for this?

MP Turner and his wife Dorothy are using flights allocated in his existing office budget. Local volunteers are providing ground transportation. Most hotel rooms have been donated. Other costs will be paid personally by Turner. The goal is zero public cost.

Is the income trust lobby group CAITI involved?

It has no role in this tour, other than to inform its members of the time and location of public meetings.

Does MP Turner speak for leader Stephane Dion?

No. Turner presents his own independent point of view and his remarks have not been vetted by the leader or his office.

What qualifies Turner to make this tour?

He was invited to speak in each of the 12 communities.

What will he be speaking on?

‘What every investor and homeowner should know.’

This is a summary of the financial and economic track record of the Harper government, and its implications in our current volatile and uncertain environment.

Garth Turner Income Trust Town Hall Meetings coming up in August

Sunday August 19, 3 pm

Brookville
Nassagaweya Community Centre, Guelph Line

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Monday August 20, 7 pm

Burlington
Tansley Woods Library, Itabashi Way

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Tuesday August 21, 7 pm

Oakville
Oakville Civic Centre, Trafalgar Road

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Wednesday August 22, 7 pm

Political speech, Port Hope, Ontario

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Thursday August 23, 7 pm

Milton
Hugh Foster Hall, Brown Street

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Saturday August 25, 3 pm

Kilbride
Ella Foote Hall

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McCallum blasts income-trust tax

By Nathan Taylor

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 07:00

Local News - Three days before federal finance minister Jim Flaherty visits the area, his critic in the Opposition, Liberal MP John McCallum, was in Orillia denouncing the Conservative government’s October announcement that income trusts would be taxed.

At a town-hall-style meeting at Couchiching Golf and Country Club yesterday, McCallum, a former senior vice-president and chief economist with the Royal Bank of Canada, blasted the government’s decision to slap a 31.5- per-cent tax on existing income trusts.

“The Conservative party could not have been clearer during the election campaign that they would not tax income trusts. Partly as a consequence of that, people took the prime minister for his word and flooded into income trusts,” said McCallum, also a former minister of national defence, veterans affairs and national revenue. “Essentially, the government dropped a nuclear bomb on all the existing income trusts.”

Joining McCallum at the front of the room were Simcoe North federal Liberal candidate John Waite and Brent Fullard, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors, who is also in opposition to the Conservative plan.

“This tax is designed not to raise revenues. It’s designed to kill this market, force all these income trusts into corporations,” Fullard told the audience of about 25.

After some introductory speeches, the guests opened the meeting to questions from the floor.

“I’ve had bigger crowds, but I haven’t had crowds with better questions,” McCallum said.

Waite set up the forum after receiving numerous inquiries regarding the Liberal plan for income trusts.

“The common response would be to fire back an e-mail telling them to ‘get a life,’” Waite quipped, referring to an e-mail faux pas in April by a staffer for Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton. “Instead, I fired an e-mail off to the finance critic asking him to come to Orillia to explain.”

Although there’s no set date for the next federal election, McCallum tried to make some fans yesterday by telling the audience of the Grits’ plan: scrapping the 31.5- per-cent tax and replacing it with a 10-per-cent income-trust distribution tax that would be refundable for all Canadian residents.

Flaherty will be at the Horseshoe Resort Thursday evening with his wife, Whitby-Ajax MPP Christine Elliott, for a Simcoe North Provincial Progressive Conservative Association fundraiser.

ntaylor@orilliapacket.com

Orillia Packet & Times

Town Hall Meeting in Edmonton with special guest John McCallum

The Town Hall Meeting Tour goes west!

Edmonton

June 26, 12:00 p.m.

Norwood Royal Canadian Legion
11150 82 St NW
Edmonton, AB Click for Map

Phone - (780) 479-4277