Summary of interviewed, June 23, by Adam Kahane as part of his Possible Canadas project and first appeared here on Possible Canadas website Kahane: What keeps you up at night? Himelfarb: The number one issue for me is inequality. Let’s think of the bottom, middle, and top of society. On
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Alex's Blog: Tax Is More Than A Four Letter Word
“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society”, a quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on the IRS headquarter in Washington Ontario Budget 2014: watch my interview with Steve Paikin at The Agenda HERE
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http://castroller.com/podcasts/TheAgendaVideo/4043959 The Agenda – Steve Paikin interview before the Ontario Budget May 30, 2014
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Without a Debate on Taxes, We Risk Sleepwalking into the Future (by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb)
Some months ago, we published a collection of essays designed to promote a discussion of taxes in Canada. The book’s premise is that the current tax conversation is distorted. While we rightly ask of any new policy or program proposal, “what will it cost and how will we pay,” we
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Without a Debate on Taxes, We Risk Sleepwalking into the Future (by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb)
“La Sonnambula”, illustration of a Bellini opera Some months ago, we published a collection of essays designed to promote a discussion of taxes in Canada. The book’s premise is that the current tax conversation is distorted. While we rightly ask of any new policy or program proposal, “what will it
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Saying no to the conjuror’s trick of tax cuts
Tax is Not a Four Letter Word is a collection of essays, published by WLU Press, I co-edited with my son, Jordan, Opinion Editor of The Toronto Star. The CCPA Ontario’s Jennifer Story recently interviewed me about the book, and our desire to get Canadians thinking differently about taxes. (The
Continue readingAlex's Blog: SAYING NO TO THE CONJURERS’ TRICK OF TAX CUTS
“Tax is Not a Four Letter Word”, is a collection of essays by various authors which I co-edited with my son Jordan, Opinion Editor for the Toronto Star. The CCPA Ontario’s Jennifer Story recently interviewed me about the book, and our desire to get Canadians thinking differently
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Pourquoi les Canadiens n’ont pas de temps à consacrer à la politique (L’inégalité et la méfiance qu’elle engendre nourrissent notre apathie politique)
*TRADUCTION LIBRE* Article paru dans le Toronto Star, le 17 juillet 2013 *Why People Have No Time For Politics” Samara a publié récemment une autre étude montrant que les Canadiens, en particulier les jeunes, sont profondément désintéressés de la politique traditionnelle. Les citoyens sont moins nombreux à voter et à
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Pourquoi les Canadiens n’ont pas de temps à consacrer à la politique (L’inégalité et la méfiance qu’elle engendre nourrissent notre apathie politique)
Traduction libre de Why People Have No Time For Politics, un article paru en anglais dans le Toronto Star du 17 juillet 2013. Samara a publié récemment une autre étude montrant que les Canadiens, en particulier les jeunes, sont profondément désintéressés de la politique traditionnelle. Les citoyens sont moins nombreux
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Canada’s Dangerously Distorted Tax Conversation
“(In)visible Dialogue”. Installation by Wang King Road. 2011. Wikipedia Commons. (This post was written by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb; an abridged version appeared in the Star here.) We don’t like paying taxes. This is not big news: we don’t much like paying any bills, and there’s probably never been a
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Canada’s Dangerously Distorted Tax Conversation
“(In)visible Dialogue”. Installation by Wang King Road. 2011. Wikipedia Commons. (This post was written by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb; an abridged version appeared in the Star here.) We don’t like paying taxes. This is not big news: we don’t much like paying any bills, and there’s probably never been a
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Austeria
Mad scientist selling his utopian project to the master of Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) “Austeria”. An informal talk to OMSSA’s 2013 Learning Symposium, held in Ottawa, Ontario from June 16 to 19, 2013.
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Informal talk to OMSSA’s 2013 Learning Symposium, held in Ottawa, Ontario from June 16 to 19, 2013.
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Why we have no time for politics
Edward Hicks, c. 1824, “Peaceable Kingdom”, National Gallery of Art, Wikipedia Commons. Samara recently published yet another study showing that Canadians, especially young Canadians, are profoundly disengaged from formal politics. Not only are citizens voting less and participating less in political parties, they are not writing, reading or even talking with friends
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Why we have no time for politics
Samara recently published yet another study showing that Canadians, especially young Canadians, are profoundly disengaged from formal politics. Not only are citizens voting less and participating less in political parties, they are not writing, reading or even talking with friends about party politics. While many are still donating money and time to
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Celebrating Public Service
Public servants celebrating the enrolment of 5 million citizens in the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (1959, Archives of Ontario) Notes for talk at Public Policy Forum Dinner, April 11, 2013 I am delighted to be here with family, friends and colleagues this evening – an evening that can only be
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Celebrating Public Service
Public servants celebrating the enrolment of 5 million citizens in the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (1959, Archives of Ontario) Notes for talk at Public Policy Forum Dinner, April 11, 2013 I am delighted to be here with family, friends and colleagues this evening – an evening that can only be
Continue readingAlex's Blog: The Trouble With Austerity: Economics as Ideology
A somewhat abridged version of this post first appeared in The Toronto Star here Governments here and elsewhere are increasingly preoccupied with cutting even as evidence piles up of its harmful consequences on people and the economy. Austerity is not even delivering the balanced budgets its advocates promise. Even the
Continue readingAlex's Blog: The Trouble With Austerity: Economics as Ideology
A somewhat abridged version of this post first appeared in The Toronto Star here Governments here and elsewhere are increasingly preoccupied with cutting even as evidence piles up of its harmful consequences on people and the economy. Austerity is not even delivering the balanced budgets its advocates promise. Even the
Continue readingAlex's Blog: The Age of Austerity
Notes: Keynote talk, CCPA Post-Austerity session, Toronto, January 9, 2013 We are living in the “Age of Austerity” or at least so says David Cameron, the UK’s Prime Minister. He made this announcement in 2009 at the Conservative convention just before becoming prime minister. This meant, he explained, that he
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