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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday May 26, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Matter of trust Garth Turner Halton MPP t's been six months since, out of the blue, the Harper administration imposed a 31 per cent tax on investors and caused their retirement savings to tumble. Some people ask me why I keep fighting this move. Why do I write about Garth Turner it? Why am I embarking on a string of controversial public meetings in the next few weeks? Why do I tell average taxpayers not to give up? Well, I could. Easier to keep my head down in Ottawa and collect my pay. But that's not why I'm here. The easy path is not exactly one I frequent. Here are the five reasons the income trust tax must be stopped, delayed or at least modified. · First, there but for the grace of Flaherty, go I: If Mr. Harper and Jim Flaherty can impose a crushing new tax on personal investments, and wipe away $25 billion in private savings, and not care, and get away with it, then it may happen again. What's the next target of the finance department to maximize revenues ­ eliminate, or cap, or start to tax RRSPs? Impose a tax on the huge capital gains residential real estate is now generating? Think about it. Without political accountability, anything can happen. · Second, this is a simple betrayal. Many, many people invested in income trusts, or increased their stake, precisely because Mr. Harper and Mr. Flaherty said it was okay to do so. We will never tax these investments, the now-PM said, over and over and over again. His very words caused an increase in the flow of savings into these vehicles. His very words also encouraged more companies to convert into trusts, secure in the knowledge a Conservative government could be counted on to keep its word. Now we know differently. · Third, this shows a profound lack of respect. Such a draconian move by any government demonstrates it does not care about individual security, or property rights. Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper knew well what this would do to the pool of private savings in Canada, that the tax would depress the market value of all trusts and erase money, yet they did it anyway. Worse, they also knew a majority of income trusts investors are seniors who have no pensions (hence pension-splitting is useless to them), and who are too old to recoup the losses in their lifetimes. But they did it anyway. A government which so disrespects seniors is not deserving of respect. · Fourth, this really hurts the political system. The Harper Government was supposed to be different. It promised transparency and consistency. No tricks, like Jean Chrétien getting elected on a pledge to end the GST, then reconsidering. Just steady Eddie government we could all count on, with a populist streak and a new respect for the common voter. Well, not so much. In a stroke, that changed. It's politics as usual ­ say one thing to gain support, then do another once you get it. This sucks, and proves once again that politicians deserve to have the same standing as used Chevy sales guys. · Fifth, the unfairness is overwhelming. Recently, Flaherty told a Bay Street crowd he is unwinding a budget provision that would have slapped a new $1 billion levy on corporations by eliminating the ability to deduct some interest expenses. That came after a few weeks of the rich and powerful of the country hammering on the minister, PMSH and their allies. So, poof, it was changed. Once again, big government yields to special interests, while the Canadians who chose the leaders feel the back of their hand. We all have reason to feel newly disenfranchised, by Canada's new government. For the above reasons, I will not forget this, accept it or acquiesce to it. In fact, I'll continue to fight by whatever means are available. It may be futile, but I think not. And if there's nothing else I do as an MP, representing voters, I can do this. And will. IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian I RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION The hardest job in the world (of Reality TV) is Being Andy I 'm on the telephone with famed reality-TV producer Mark Burnett. Actually, I'm on the phone with the junior secretary to the administrative assistant to the associate advisor-intraining of Mark Burnett. And I'm on hold. But never mind. The point is, I have a reality show to pitch and Mark, the master of this genre, is my man. For those not in the know, Mark Burnett is the British television producer who brought reality TV to North America with historic hits (and a few memorable misses) such as Survivor, Rock Star, The Apprentice, The Contender, On The Lot, which premiered this week, and Pirate Master, which debuts next week. The concept for my show came to me last weekend -- a long weekend, you may well recall. While most of you doubtlessly spent that long weekend resting and relaxing, I spent it working the vast overgrown acreage upon which our high-maintenance house sits. Working to the point of exhaustion, if not delirium. It was in this state that I mentally mapped out my surefire reality TV show. I call it (drumroll, please) Being Andy. Now, I admit that the first 50 times I called Mark's minions in Hollywood and hit `em in the chops with my awesome idea, they were, well, underwhelmed. They said my concept sounded like "a rip-off of Survivor and The Apprentice." Well, duh. I know Being Andy borrows a bit from those shows. But, as I plan on reminding Mark just as soon as his lackeys take me off hold and put him on: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In Being Andy, contestants would come to my house, live my life and basically try to be me. Without surrendering to the strain. Andy Juniper Without cracking up. Over the course of each show there would be extreme physical challenges, just like those I endure each week (cutting grass, weeding gardens, etc.). And riveting mental challenges, too, just like I face every day. For example: Contestants, you have one son who needs to be in Toronto, another who needs transport to his guitar lesson and a daughter who needs to be delivered to dance. All activities start at the same time and you have only one vehicle. I know when recently faced with this exact mental challenge, I curled up in the fetal position on the floor and cried, but I doubt any of the contestants will have the mental agility to think of that swell solution! Further, just to increase the degree of difficulty and make the show even more interesting, we'd add obstacles like I face when trying to get my work done. Just last weekend I was swarmed by dark clouds of mosquitoes, the likes of which the locales say have never before been seen. Oh, and while walking the dog, I got attacked by a wild turkey. Each week one of the contestants who failed to live up to Andy's expectations would be voted out of my villa. The winner? The winner would get the opportunity to stay and work for me for a year as ­ you guessed it ­ Andy's Apprentice. When I ran the premise for Being Andy past my cynical wife, she said that I was just trying to get somebody to do my work for me. I told my wife that she is crazier than the damn swallows that dive-bomb me every time I venture outside. I think she's jealous that I have a brilliant idea for a sure-fire TV hit. Even Mark's minions must think so. They're obviously seriously considering my idea, and beginning to wrap their heads around my genius. How else to explain why they've kept me on hold. Since Tuesday? Ah, Being Andy. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.