Flaherty Under Fire Over Income Trusts Decision

The clip you'll be seeing on your evening news about what's going on in Ottawa today will be that of the very testy exchange between the Liberals' John McCallum and the Conservatives' finance minister Jim Flaherty as they sparred in committee about the controversial decision to tax income trusts.

McCallum repeatedly asked Flaherty if he had any reports prior to the decision that estimated possible losses to investors as a result of the proposed taxation. Flaherty bobbed and weaved and refused to give McCallum a simple yes or no answer. The assumed conclusion: Flaherty did not do his homework.

The buzz of the day is that Flaherty will not back down from his decision and furious investors are asking for government help which is unlikely to be forthcoming.

Whether or not you agree with the decision to tax the trusts, the news that Flaherty apparently did not consider the potential losses ought to be a major concern since he's in charge of the country's finances.

CTV has the video of Flaherty's appearance before the committee.