In the two weeks since Canada's Finance Minister announced a tax cut to dividend-paying stocks, the big question in financial and political circles is whether some people had advance notice of his Nov. 23 announcement. A CTV Whistleblower investigation into what happened that day has found that may have been the case.

"I believe some information leaked out somewhere," said Christopher Thomas of Measured Markets, a company that analyzes stock trading patterns.

Ralph Goodale's announcement was good news for income trust investors -- and those who buy dividend-paying stocks. He reversed his earlier plan to possibly tax the trusts. He also decided to cut taxes on dividends, to help dividend-paying stocks look as attractive to investors as the popular income trusts do.

But, some of those stocks jumped inexplicably late in the afternoon, hours before Goodale told the Canadian public anything about his plan. CTV found more evidence of a possible leak than just that jump in trading.

First, several credible sources in financial circles confirmed to CTV they heard definitively -- before the markets closed -- that an announcement would be coming after the close of trading that day.

Many people were exchanging emails, about an anticipated 5 p.m. news conference. That seemingly advance notice contradicts the Finance Department's position that they told no one -- not even privately -- about the timing of the hotly anticipated announcement, not the day or the hour it would come.

"There was no specific advance notice whatsoever," Goodale told CTV.

More important, perhaps, CTV discovered evidence, in writing, that seems to suggest some people had advance knowledge of exactly what the finance minister was going to say.

That evidence is in public bulletin board postings on a popular investor's internet site called "Stockhouse". The first posting -- at 11:14 that morning -- came from someone who wrote: "Skuttlebutt is that he (Goodale) will soon announce a reduction on dividend taxation to 'even the playing field'." This information was posted a full seven hours before the minister's press conference, and possibly viewed by many potential investors before the markets closed.

The second posting on the same site came from another person, who also seemed to know what was coming. At 3:59, they posted this message: "The hot rumour is that the government's decision on the income trust issue is that they are going to make a more level playing field by reducing the degree of double taxation which currently exists on dividends by increasing the dividend tax credit."

The Finance Minister used very similar wording when he made his announcement two hours later.

"We're going to help to level up the playing field as between corporations and trusts and we're going to be doing that by ending double taxation on dividends," said Goodale in his media conference that evening.

"Some people seemed to know more than others," said Thomas. "And possibly took advantage of the situation to improve their performance or their investment position."

When asked if there was any other plausible explanation for the postings, other than a leak, Thomas said, "The connection in the language between these two bulletin board postings and the final text that came out is too close to be random coincidence."

Goodale insisted the postings are pure speculation, and the term "level playing field" was being used by several groups that were urging the government to do what it did.

"That is the language that the market itself has used for years to describe the issue of double taxation with regards to dividends," Goodale told CTV. "There was no advance notice whatsoever about what the content of the decision would be."

Goodale also stressed not a single investigator from either the RCMP or the Ontario Securities Commission has contacted him or anyone in his office to ask any questions.

Thomas says those authorities should conduct a full investigation, immediately. "This should be followed up to let the world know we are prepared to investigate these things no matter who is involved."

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