Consult with key stakeholders to provide background documents on the market for use by financial advisors and other educational interests.
Reshape the Inaugural event, originally planned as one full-day Roundtable, to provide a series of more accesible Web seminars and to address the changing market, proposed tax and policy environment.
Establish an archive of background articles and quotes of value to investors and media, as well as abstracts from academic and industry research papers of use to financial professionals, market and policy analysts, researchers and managers.
Included in the archive will be a summary and report to members on findings from submissions made in response to the Department of Finance Consultation Paper on Flow-through Entities.
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MEDIA CONTACTS & RESOURCES
In response to explicit requests for solid information about income trusts, iTrust Institute has prepared a series of facts and questions in a preparatory document for members of the Finance Committee. And as a non-partisan organization, the Institute made this background document available to all members of the Finance Committee at the same time as it begins to hear presentations from witnesses for its first day of Income Trust Study.
Institute President, Leslie Hayman, said that, “Despite the Minister of Finance’s last minute news bombardment with stories of mounting threats of tax loss from the trust sector, these income trust hearings are very important as a means for the public and policy makers to understand the real risks and concerns of income trusts and their taxation.”
“This is not such a simple issue because the tax system is so complex,” said Ms. Hayman. “The system is what requires an overhaul.”
She added that, “Discussion of taxation is of great importance to all Canadians. Particularly a major decision like we have here to tax just income trust owners who already pay tax, in favor of reducing taxes and further allowing tax avoidance schemes for foreign investors, is the kind of decision that warrants public understanding before we simply accept it into law.”
The iTrust Institute applauds all Parties for allowing the Finance Committee’s public pre-hearings for its Income Trust Study. The Institute seeks to brief the Committee directly. The group aims in any case to inform Committee members so that they can ask meaningful and focused questions in the context of factual considerations.
Ms. Hayman commented that, “These hearings are too important to allow for a political circus with all the usual players at risk of mistaken or misleading conclusions from narrowly defined arguments to suggest that all income trusts are good or, as the Minister of Finance suggests, that all income trusts are bad. Our representatives in government and employees in the civil service are much smarter and more capable than such propaganda would suggest. The Institute wants to help ensure due consideration is made by those with the interest to do so.”
A copy of the Background Facts and Questions can be found, for public and media reference on the Institute Web site:
Background Questions for Finance Committee - 2007-01-30 Hearing (pdf)
ADDENDUM - Follow-up Brief with Facts for Day 2 of the hearings:
iTrust Institute Brief for Finance Committee Feb 1 2007
CONTACT
Leslie Hayman
President, iTrust Institute
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
The iTrust Institute is an independent, non-partisan organization that provides research and education services to members and others.
The Institute was born in early 2006 from the interests of members in TrustInvestor, a leading independent information resource for more than 3993 members including investors, advisors, brokers, bankers, traders, financial professionals, market makers & issuers. That number now approaches 5000 as Liberal tax policy and Conservative election promises helped popularize income trusts in early 2005.
The iTrust Institute was incorporated as a federal not-for-profit organization as a means to address the information needs of a public and government seen as divided during the Department of Finance Consultation of 2005. At that time, many sensed growing need for specialized education and objective information in regard to the securities and their market.
With surprise imposition of new taxes and rules on flow-through entities in 2006, the Canadian government increased the urgency for good information to ensure effective policy that has positive impact on Canadians and our economy, today and tomorrow.
Between Day 1 and Day 2 of hearings on Trusts, the Institute was requested to provide a Brief to Committee members: iTrust Institute Brief on Income Trusts 2007-02-01 Final.pdf
News Release related to Income Trust Hearings
Media Advisory: Delay in planned Roundtable event.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Dec. 8, 2005) - The iTrust Institute has announced that its inaugural Roundtable on Income Trusts is being rescheduled from mid-December until early 2006.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 8, 2005) - The iTrustInstitute announced today that it is launching its Roundtable program to bring together experts, industry leaders and investors from all sides of the market. This year, participants will discuss the Canadian Department of Finance Consultation Paper on Flow-through Entities including income trusts.
iTrust Institute is studying the key features, perceived potential & benefits of income trusts starting from the premise that:
Equities managed and structured like income trusts to flow net gains through to owners by way of frequent and regular distributions of cash can offer superior rates of overall return, support market growth, enhance economic productivity and contribute to growth of the tax base with less risk than other equities given honest managers and a fully competitive market supported by open communications.
We will test this notion and explore related questions.