Yeah, I know. But I kind of give them a break on that one (even though it cost me money). There was virtually no leak (small selloff in the last couple of hours before the announcement) and they had to act before BCE converted into a trust.
If my memory is correct, the income trust situation was inherited from the previous Liberal government. Based on the trend, eventually the overwhelming majority of profitable companies would have converted into the trust structure. The corporate tax base would have been decimated. And because of the way that Harper and Flaherty handled the issue, no favoritism was shown to the western companies. In fact, it was the oil and gas trusts who got shafted most. With the benefit of hindsight, I think it was the right thing to the do - but it should have been introduced with more thought given to the pain that it would cause.
And finally, I think the income trust fiasco is also what Harper had in mind when he made that statement about surprises not being well received by the public. I think they learned their lesson.
Saw a few clips from Happy Jack's news conference this morning.
Boy, will he be in for a surprise - he is delusional if he thinks he can make any substantial changes to the Conservative legislation. It will go something like this. If the Conservatives think it is a good idea, they will incorporate it into their legislation and pretend that it was their idea. In the more likely scenario where they don't agree with Layton's proposal, they will simply say "No, we don't really like that, Let's vote on it. OK, we have 165 votes, how many do you have Jack? Oh, too bad, better luck next time." Just like the days of Jean Chretien. |
