Questioning income trusts puts seniors at risk

Stephen Harper
Source: National Post
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Page: A20

On September 19, the Prime Minister acted recklessly when he ordered his Finance Minister, Ralph Goodale, to wade into the income-trust market like a proverbial bull in a china shop. On that day, investors were put on notice that their popular income trusts were going to be targeted by a Liberal government seeking higher tax revenues from companies and investors.

Martin's reckless action has caused uncertainty over the future of income trusts, and so has wiped out billions of dollars in market capitalization from Canadian companies and tens of thousands of dollars from the retirement nest eggs of individual investors. Most notable was the damage done to Canadian seniors who may not have the time to recoup their losses.

One couple e-mailed my party to complain that the uncertainty around income trusts caused by the Liberals' announcement trimmed $30,000 from their retirement portfolio in a single day. Another man wrote to tell us that he had lost 15% from his his portfolio.

Many seniors feel the government is putting their retirement at risk and have let Ottawa know. In a letter to the Finance Minister, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons said, "Seniors are actually enraged, frightened and panicked about potentially losing retirement savings that they count on for the essentials of daily living."

Income trusts are popular with seniors because they provide regular payments that are used by many to cover the costs of groceries, heating bills and medicine. They also provide tax relief from a government that is addicted to taking too much money from their pockets and spending it without care, and very often without meaningful results.

So one must ask, why is the government clamping down on the retirement savings of seniors and investors?

But it gets worse. Instead of immediately moving to assure markets that income trusts are here to stay, the Liberals are justifying their actions in the coldest political terms. As one government member was quoted in the media as saying about income trust investors, "They have no constituency. They don't count politically."

That kind of arrogance cannot go unanswered. There is just no justification for what amounts to a Liberal government attack on investors, and especially on seniors.

The government continues to overtax Canadians and run multi-billion dollar surpluses, yet their first instinct is to attack an investment vehicle that can make the difference between bare survival and a dignified retirement for millions of Canadians.

The government claims that income trusts enjoy an unfair tax advantage over corporate dividends. If they believe this, then the answer is not to shut down a valuable investment vehicle, but to cut the double taxation of dividends. In short, level the playing field and let the market decide between income trusts and dividend-paying companies.

As my party's finance critic, Monte Solberg, says, the success of income trusts represents a rare triumph for investors over the tax man. Let's not be so naive as to assume that the Liberals will do the right thing to protect taxpayers. We'll need to fight hard to keep what we have, and even harder to gain ground.

It's time to stand up to Paul Martin and stop his attack on seniors and investors.

Source: National Post

Americans Take on Canadian Prime Minister over Income Trust Injustice - Diane Francis

A Chicago couple is opening up a Pandora’s Box of litigation against Prime Minister Stephen Harper under the North American Free Trade Agreement because he reneged on a promise not to tax income trusts. Marvin and Elaine Gottlieb today filed under Chapter 11 of NAFTA, a little-used provision which is designed to remedy financial damages caused by any of the treaty’s three signator governments against citizens of the other two. It’s been used rarely and bypasses the regular court system, deferring to a tribunal of experts. The tribunal is comprised of one appointee from the accused government, one from the country in which the victims live and a third agreed to by both. They hear evidence and render a verdict that cannot be appealed.

Canada Disappoints

“I’ve done a lot of business in Canada and with Canadians and I’m disappointed the government would do this,” said Mr. Gottlieb in an interview today before his press conference in Ottawa. “What better promise than the Prime Minister of a country who said he had reviewed the issue and was not going to tax trusts. Then a year ago he did. We relied on that pledge to expand our investments and so did a lot of people.”

The Flip Flop

Harper’s flip flop, cobbled together over a weekend last year for no reason then poorly marketed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, wiped $35 billion in value off income trusts. It led to the takeover of 46 trusts by foreigners and private equity buyers.

Here’s where this legal action gets interesting:

• Canadians cannot sue their own government for damaging them, but a Canadian who also holds Mexican and/or

• U.S. citizenship is entitled to file an action under Chapter 11, irrespective of where they live. “Dual nationals and landed immigrants, who were damaged, can get involved even if they are residents of Canada,” said Mr. Gottlieb.
  

For information as to what the case is about and who qualifies please look at website, naftatrustclaims.com

Who Can Sue

In general, those who can sue under Chapter 11 are:

• Canadians with dual citizenship

• Landed immigrants in Canada with Mexican or U.S. citizenship.

• Mexican citizens not living in Canada

• American citizens not living in Canada

The last Chapter 11 case was waged by the Loewen Group, a Canadian funeral home chain. The company was bankrupted after an ignorant Mississippi jury awarded US$600 million in punitive damages to a local funeral home operator even though he was only suing for US$2 million in a contract breach case. Founder Ray Loewen of Vancouver made a Chapter 11 claim but lost after several years.

Most recently was a case involving B.C. lumber giant Canfor Corp., which sued over the unfair softwood lumber tariffs and quotas imposed by a U.S. federal agency over the years. This case was launched by an American against the Canadian system. Mr. Gottlieb, a successful retired businessman, began investing in Canada pretty heavily beginning in 2000, mostly in the energy trust sector.

He increased his investments as a direct result of the Prime Minister’s promise to leave income trusts alone in the last election. He is suing for $6.5 million in damages and doing what he can to help others get their day in court too.

“This is not about politics or politicians,” he said in an interview this morning before his press conference in Ottawa. “We are not concerned about them, but the ground rules on NAFTA is what we’re asking for. NAFTA treaty rules. Not politics.”

Why Chapter 11

Chapter 11 was written into NAFTA, ironically, mostly amid concern about Mexico and its corruption and past proclivity to expropriate assets or discriminate against foreigners.

But the high-handed behaviour of the Canadian government vis a vis income trusts is more egregious than anything the Mexicans have done.

“It’s a question of ethics. NAFTA is the only avenue we have,” he said. “We’re talking about a broken commitment by a Prime Minister.”

“We will be attempting to attract other American investors who found themselves in a similar disadvantage as a result of a government decision. This is about fair and equitable treatment,” he said.

After the announcement about income trusts, Mr. Gottlieb started a letter writing campaign, with others, to convince the Tories to reconsider their decision.

“I contacted other government organizations and got stock answers, don’t bother me anymore was the attitude,” he said. “We learned that NAFTA might be the opportunity for an individual in the U.S. to bring this attention to the public.”

“These hearings may also bring sunlight to the project. There were no reasons for the action and only generalities,” he said. “A NAFTA tribunal will show who was right and who was wrong.”

“There has also been serious damage to the energy sector, in particular,” he said. “This is very important to Canadians.”

Source: Americans Take on Canadian Prime Minister over Income Trust Injustice - The Financial Post

Attention U.S. Investors in Canadian Income and Royalty Trusts

I am very pleased to make you aware of a significant development and an exciting legal opportunity for all US members of CAITI and all US investors in income trusts. The Gottliebs are seeking as their remedy to this legal matter brought under NAFTA ,a grandfathering of the energy trusts. Such a remedy will be to the benefit of all trust investors. Please support this major new initiative undertaken by Marvin and Elaine Gottlieb of Chicago , who I am proud to say are members and early supporters of CAITI.

Please visit http://naftatrustclaims.com/

Brent Fullard
President and CEO
Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors
www.caiti.info/

416 486-2224
647 505-2224 (cell)

Note: A link to naftaclaims is located in the upper right menu of this website.

Ottawa News Conference - The Top Ten Unanswered Questions for Stephen Harper and Jack Layton

OTTAWA, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors (CAITI) will be holding an Ottawa news conference on Wednesday October 31, 2007, on the one year anniversary of Stephen Harper's broken election promise to not raid seniors' nest eggs by double taxing income trusts.

The theme of the press conference will be The Top Ten Unanswered Questions for Stephen Harper and Jack Layton.

The Press Conference will be held in the Charles Lynch Room of the National Press Gallery, Room 130-S in Center Block of Parliament at 3:45 pm EST.

Presenting will be Brent Fullard, President and CEO of CAITI.

The press conference will also available by conference operator, by dialing one of the following numbers:

403 398 9531
416 644 3427
800 591 7539

Thank you.

For further information:
Canadian Association of Income Trusts Investors
media@caiti.info
(647) 505-2224
Source: CNW

NDP Complicity: How Jack Layton helped Stephen Harper destroy Canadian's RRSP savings.

com·plic·i·ty: Involvement as an accomplice in a questionable act or a crime. Source: TheFreeDictionary





Related:
New Democratic Poodles

Income trust fall-out: American couple the first to launch NAFTA challenge against Government of Canada for eliminating income trusts; inviting others

OTTAWA, Oct. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Marvin and Elaine Gottlieb are taking on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and the Canadian government for the Halloween 2006 broken promise on the elimination of income trusts. The Chicago couple are the first Americans to file a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The couple are among the thousands of US investors who lost a total of $5 billion dollars in the fall-out from the Conservative Government's decision last year to effectively tax income trusts in the energy sector out
of existence.

"The Halloween 2006 income trust decision by the Government of Canada has had a massive financial impact on thousands of investors in Canada and the U.S. and we believe that it breached Canada's NAFTA obligations", said Marvin Gottlieb. "Because of this decision, more than $30 billion has been lost by individual investors in Canada and more than $5 billion has been lost by energy trust investors, including Elaine and me, in the United States.

"Based on Stephen Harper's very public promise, thousands of individuals and grandparents like us invested our hard earned money in income trusts and energy trusts. This is not just a nightmare on Bay Street. It's a nightmare on Wall Street."

For further information:
Susan Smith
Bluesky Strategy Group
C: (613)371-0624
susan@blueskystrategygroup.com
Source: CNW

Related:
Chicago couple seeks NAFTA arbitration of income trust taxation policy

Halloween income trust fiasco one year later...Midwest American family the first to take on the Canadian government under NAFTA

OTTAWA, Oct. 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Marvin and Elaine Gottlieb's Halloween nightmare with the Conservative government's decision to tax Canadian income trusts in the energy sector is far from over. Now it may be the Conservative government experiencing a Halloween surprise.

The Chicago couple will be in Ottawa tomorrow, Tuesday, October 30, 2007 to give notice of a challenge under NAFTA Chapter 11 against the Government of Canada. Their claim is based on the fall-out of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's surprise Halloween 2006 decision to eliminate income trusts on the heels of the Conservative government's pledge to leave them alone.

Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb will hold a news conference at 10:30 am in Room 130-S, Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

ALL MEDIA ARE INVITED TO ATTEND

DATE: Tuesday, October, 30, 2007
TIME: 10:30 am
PLACE: Room 130-S, Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa

For further information: or interview requests please contact:
Susan Smith
Bluesky Strategy Group
C: (613) 371-0624
susan@blueskystrategygroup.com
Source: CNW Group

---

Who is Marvin Gottlieb?

Marvin Gottlieb has been active in international corporate affairs for 35 years. In 1965, he founded M. Gottlieb Associates, Inc. (MGA), an international manufacturers’ representative company that specializes in matching world-class technologies with the needs of its Fortune 500 clients. He has been a limited partner of Trident Capital (a venture capital fund) since its inception in 1992. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, MGA had offices in Indiana, Michigan, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Portugal, Japan, and Yugoslavia.

He has also served as a consultant to IBM, and advisor to General Motors, Ford, and Zenith Electronics on global procurement issues. He traveled extensively in the Far East and Australia with top officials of the Defense Department, under the Reagan administration, on trips concerning acquisition and procurement. Recently, Mr. Gottlieb visited Cuba as a member of a fact-finding tour sponsored by the Center of International Policy.

As a leader in the field of electronics manufacturing, he helped to establish and then served as co-chairman of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Spring Conference from 1960-1985. This major annual conference focuses on innovations in electronic engineering and manufacturing technologies.

An active member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Mr. Gottlieb is a founding member of the Chairman’s Circle. Marvin is currently an adviser to the Hiroshima Gateway Peace Project. He recently stepped down as a member of the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Chicago, on which he served for the past 10 years. He founded a family foundation that supports medical research in juvenile diabetes, breast cancer and several major cultural organizations in Chicago. He is a member of the International Map Collectors Society.

Marvin is also the President of Howland International, a UK-based Corporation, which is actively involved in energy issues, and oil reserves. He is currently interested in new approaches for oil exploration, production and alternative sources of energy. He is an active member of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors. Marvin and his wife, Elaine divide their time between Glencoe, Illinois, Palm Beach, Florida and Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. They enjoy travel, golf and spending time with their four granddaughters.

Source: marvingottlieb.com

Harpers Happy Hollowing to Date

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CAITI responds to 'Trust Treat' by Terence Corcoran in October 27th National Post.

October 27, 2007

Letter to the Editor

Mr. Doug Kelly
Editor in Chief
National Post

Evidently my efforts of the last 12 months have struck a nerve. The truth has a habit of doing that. Especially when there are so many who are attempting to suppress it.

Meanwhile Terry Corcoran lives in a world of his own vindictive and narrow minded creation. Back in December he had this falsehood to say in your paper;

“Before our seniors rush off with the thought that the income trust issue is a call to re-fight the Second World War, they should know that Fullard is employed by the Canadian Association of the 50 Plus (CARP). CARP in
recent years got into bed with investment firms selling income trust products to its members. If I were running CARP, I'd be fighting mad, too -- at somebody.”

That was an outright falsehood and which had no basis in fact and that, once Mr. Corcoran learned was untrue, lost total interest in correcting as well as his total sense of journalistic zeal and was not man enough to retract the statement

Now we are to learn in today’s ranting tirade by Mr Corcoran that:

“One source familiar with the Fullardmort operation says CAITI now receives no money from his original deep-pocketed backers and is just spending his own dime and time cranking out ugly political commentary.”

Yet another falsehood perpetrated by Terry Corcoran that has no basis in fact. There are others, such as the time he promised to publish an opposing view of mine in response to an article in your paper that was centered around the views of CAITI, and then reneged after we had agreed to a word count and a deadline. He claimed that the original opinion article was “more right” than my rebuttal. Subsequent events have proven how correct indeed I was as evidenced by the foreign takeovers of all the income trusts such as Prime West by Abu Dhabi and TransAlta Power by Li Ka-Shing.

Mr. Corcoran has failed in his fundamental duty as a reporter, in that he did not speak with myself or anyone at CAITI before printing these two falsehoods. Meanwhile who is doing the fact checking at your newspaper before the printing of such slanderous articles?

I expect a full retraction and apology on the part of your paper for the falsehoods that Mr Corcoran is perpetrating about myself and our association and for reasons known only to himself, and perhaps his friends in the PMO.

Thank you,

Brent Fullard
President and CEO
Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors
www.caiti.info

---

Dear Sirs

Terence Corcoran's personal attack on Brent Fullard in his column today is in extremely poor taste, unbefitting a national newspaper. From the schoolyard name-calling to the expression that he would like to see Mr Fullard "vaporized" -- surely this is not journalism. Clearly the man has some deep-seated personal issues with Mr Fullard, and is using his position at the National Post to wage a personal vendetta.

As to the rest of his column, I find it ironic that the accusations hurled Brent's way, of fulminating, of being overly partisan, can all be applied equally to Mr Corcoran himself, whose froth and fury spew from his column on a regular basis.

And what on earth does he mean by an "alleged" organization? There is nothing "alleged" about the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors. It is as real as the National Post, and its membership is composed of many thousands of individual trust investors who were betrayed, even set up, by Stephen Harper's broken promise to "never raid seniors' nest eggs".

Yes, the anniversary of that stunning reversal is approaching. And, as Mr Corcoran laments in his opening paragraphs, there are sure to be many column inches devoted to the issue. Including, seemingly his own. Clearly the standards he applies to others do not hold when it comes to himself.

And what of the standards of the National Post? Highly opinionated columnists spark interest and fuel debate, but when they call for the vaporization of those they disagree with, they are getting dangerously close to uttering death threats.

Mr Corcoran owes Brent Fullard an immediate and sincere apology.

Sincerely,

Val Fullard
Communications Director
Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors
www.caiti.info

visit our new blog at: C A I T I - O N L I N E

Dr. Michael Popovich - Tax fairness plan masks Harper's broken vow

Letters to the Editor
London Free Press
October 27, 2007

The first anniversary of the Oct. 31 implementation of the tax fairness plan is almost upon us.

Will we ever forget Stephen Harper's promise just prior to the last election: "Don't forget , the Liberals were going to tax income trusts. Don't forget we will never let that happen. We will never raid seniors' hard-earned money."

However, Harper did tax income trusts within nine months of taking power and thousands of small investors, mainly seniors, had to suffer the consequences of a $35-billion loss to their savings. The only beneficiaries were corporations like Manulife that had competing products to sell. Private equity firms and pension funds were allowed to buy up these same trusts and hold them tax-free.

Despite running on a platform of accountability, there have been no attempts made to show any verifiable justification for this action -- unless 18 blacked-out pages count.

Seniors and small investors across Canada, whose only fault was to try to make ends meet, were the collateral damage in this plan to satisfy the needs of the ultra-rich.

As the next election approaches and you hear Stephen Harper chant, "Promise made, promise kept," you might want to reassess his abysmal record on promises.

Dr. Michael Popovich
Rodney, Ontario

Source: London Free Press

Related:
Stephen Harper on Income Trusts - Election 2006
Stephen Harper on Accountability - Election 2006