“Flaherty said Friday the federal government is concerned about increasing CPP contributions at the current time because it would slap an additional financial burden on employers during fragile economic times, potentially threatening their ability to hire workers. The federal government can’t unilaterally change the CPP; amending it requires the backing of two-thirds of the provinces representing two-thirds of the population. “This is not the time to put another burden on employers and dampen employment prospects for Canadians. That’s my view. Not everyone agrees with that view,” Flaherty told reporters Friday in Ottawa.
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Politics and Entertainment: Premiers Goal to Increase CPP both Pragmatic and Desirable
“Flaherty said Friday the federal government is concerned about increasing CPP contributions at the current time because it would slap an additional financial burden on employers during fragile economic times, potentially threatening their ability to hire workers. The federal government can’t unilaterally change the CPP; amending it requires the backing
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Premiers Goal to Increase CPP both Pragmatic and Desirable
“Flaherty said Friday the federal government is concerned about increasing CPP contributions at the current time because it would slap an additional financial burden on employers during fragile economic times, potentially threatening their ability to hire workers. The federal government can’t unilaterally change the CPP; amending it requires the backing
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: So Did YOU Get a 3% Raise Last Year?
So, did you get a 3% raise last year? The average Canadian did. See the first chart below. If not, you’re behind the average Canadian. And even with a small offset of increased hours worked going up by only 1% for the 12 months ending last June, at worst, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher keep up their reporting on Robocon by noting that Elections Canada’s trail seems to have gone cold with the use of an unsecured wifi connection to hide the identity of Pierre Poutine. But as Susan Delacourt points out,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 26 saw ample discussion of private members’ business – and if the Cons are now cracking down on such debate, the results of the day’s proceedings might give us some clues as to why. The Big Issue While it didn’t receive as much media attention as another issue
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Alison nicely debunks the Cons’ latest Robocon talking points. Paula Boutis offers her own suggestions to strengthen Elections Canada in investigating vote suppression. And Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher report that the Cons have been working on funneling federal money through a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Fred Wilson weighs in on Thomas Mulcair’s mandate as the NDP’s new leader: (M)any progressives with no interest whatsoever in a “Blairist” agenda had found their way to the Mulcair camp. They supported Mulcair for two reasons — to maintain the party’s base
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: December 15, 2011
Thursday, December 15 was the final day in the House of Commons before the winter break. The Big Issue Once again, debate focused primarily on Bill C-26 to clarify the availability of self-defence under the Criminal Code. And the opposition parties started proceedings by granting unanimous consent to an effort
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom points out that the McGuinty Libs’ choice to emphasize austerity rather than stabilizing Ontario’s economy may lead down exactly the same destructive path travelled by Greece and other countries: (T)he crises in Spain, Portugal and Greece occurred because government spending cuts
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Stapleton on Harper’s Proposed OAS/GIS Changes
John Stapleton has an opinion piece out on Prime Minister Harper’s proposed changes to Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). I find the following quote from Stapleton to be particularly troubling: By providing OAS and GIS at age 65, Canada has greatly reduced the incidence of poverty
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Harper Conservatives on Liberal’s Plan for OAS – 2004
Back in 2004, the Harper Conservatives accused the Paul Martin Liberals of having a “hidden agenda” to raise the age to qualify for the Old Age Security to 67. The Conservative Party of Canada had acquired the information on the Liberals through access to information. As far as I… ..
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: The High Cost of Corporate Tax Cuts
The Harper government’s plans to reduce the deficit with savings from Old Age Security, are absolute nonsense. Their argument is that it will be more beneficial for younger workers. Just how is forcing Canadians to work two years longer, going to help those entering the workforce? They will have to wait
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: November 24, 2011
The main topic of debate in the House of Commons on Thursday, November 24 was again copyright – and once more, the Cons couldn’t be bothered to try to defend their own legislation. The Big Issue But that left plenty of time for opposition speakers to raise the level of
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Harper’s Pension Bomb
Hey, wasn’t it fun learning the other day from a speech Stephen Harper delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that unspecified “major transformations” are coming to our national pension system? Naïve citizens might have thought a significant issue of this nature affecting the retirement incomes of just
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: November 22, 2011
Tuesday, November 22 saw the Cons’ refusal to debate their own government bills reach absurd levels, as Con MPs spent more time arguing against a single opposition private member’s bill than they did defending some of their supposed key priorities. The Big Issue But then, one can hardly blame the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: November 18, 2011
Friday, November 18 saw two pieces of legislation discussed. And the contrast couldn’t have been much more stark between an opposition effort to develop better legislation, and a government focused on nothing more than sticking to talking points regardless of whether they made the slightest sense in context. The Big
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: November 15, 2011
Much of Tuesday, November 15 was spent discussing C-13, the Cons’ budget implementation bill. And with a giant and scattered omnibus bill came a Commons debate to match. The Big Issue The main topic of debate on the Cons’ budget was once again their series of tax credits, with the
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Top Canadian CEOs making Average Canadian’s yearly salary by Noon, says study
By noon today, Canada’s top CEO’s will have made what most Canadians take an entire year to earn. The current Canadian Government is paying that same rate $90,000 per day to look at ways to eliminate public sector jobs. Jobs that the 99% depend on to provide services like food
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Social Insurance Benefits Increase Tomorrow!
Amidst the plethora of media reports on “payroll tax” increases for 2012, there was little mention of increases in benefits. There are, of course, two sides to social insurance programs. Starting in January, CPP benefits – indexed to inflation – rise by 2.8% to a new monthly maximum of $986.67.
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