With a federal election taking place in Canada in fewer than three weeks, I’ve written a 950-word overview of the Liberal Party’s housing platform. It’s available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/ten-things-to-know-about-the-liberal-partys-housing-platform/
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The Progressive Economics Forum: the federal NDP’s housing platform
With a federal election taking place in Canada on September 20, the NDP has released its platform, which includes important housing-related measures. I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of the housing components of the platform. My overview is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/ten-things-to-know-about-the-federal-ndps-housing-platform/.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about the 2019-20 Alberta budget
I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview of the recent Alberta budget. Points raised in the post include the following: -The budget lays out a four-year strategy of spending cuts, letting population growth and inflation do much of the heavy lifting. -After one accounts for both population growth and inflation,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Alberta must find alternatives to cutting social spending
I have an opinion piece in today’s Edmonton Journal about Alberta’s current fiscal situation. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The Jason Kenney government will almost certainly announce cuts to social spending in the near future. -Yet, more than 80% of Alberta’s kindergarten through Grade 3 classes
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about this year’s Alberta Alternative Budget
The Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) is an annual exercise whose working group consists of researchers, economists, and members of civil society (full disclosure: I’m the Editor). Our general mandate is to create a progressive vision for Alberta to boost economic growth and reduce income inequality. This year’s document was released
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Five things to know about the 2018 Alberta budget
On March 22, the NDP government of Rachel Notley tabled the 2018 Alberta budget. I’ve written a blog post discussing some of the major ‘take aways’ from the standpoint of Calgary’s homeless-serving sector (where I work). Points made in the blog post include the following: this was very much a
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten proposals from the 2018 Alberta Alternative Budget
The 2018 Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) was released yesterday—it can be downloaded here. An opinion piece I wrote about the AAB appeared yesterday in both the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal. Inspired by the Alternative Federal Budget exercise, this year’s AAB was drafted by a working group consisting of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget
On November 17, the working group of the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) sponsored a one-day workshop at the University of Alberta. The event’s main purpose was to discuss recent developments in Alberta public policy, as well as expectations for the upcoming Alberta budget. Twenty speakers presented in total. In light
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Books, tents, fishing rods and such #nlpoli
Don’t ask why but Statistics Canada groups books in with sporting goods, hobbies, and music. The picture shows total sales in Newfoundland and Labrador each months from january 2014 to October 2016 for these items. The figures are in thousands of dollars. The average per month over the whole period
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Norman Farrell highlights how following the reversal of the HST transition, B.C. businesses haven’t given up on their goal of making sure that only individuals pay consumption taxes. – Jordan Press and…
Continue readingLeft Over: Gordon Campbell..back in the Soup…
Ottawa announces diplomatic shakeup with 26 new appointments Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion removes high-profile Harper-era appointees By John Paul Tasker, CBC News Posted: Jul 19, 2016 11:27 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 19, 2016 3:02 PM ET It’s about time, … Continue reading →
The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about the 2016-17 Alberta budget
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I have a blog post titled: “Ten things to know about the 2016-17 Alberta budget.”
The link to the post is here.
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Friends in high places: changing the HST in a hurry #nlpoli
According to a statement from the federal finance department on Wednesday, “the federal government will take any necessary steps to ensure that the [HST] rate increase does not come into effect on January 1, 2016.” [CBC] That came out of the…
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Frugality, thy name is not TransLink
Opinion researchers Insights West concluded in 2013 that an increase in sales tax was the least favoured funding option for TransLink. Nevertheless, that’s the option preferred by most municipal politicians and the province. They might theorize that a number of small drains in our pockets will be less noticed. Also,
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Why We Hate Taxes – and why we shouldn’t
A somewhat shorter version first appeared in albertaviews January/February 2015 as Taxes: a small price to pay for civilization About a year ago, my son Jordan, some friends and colleagues and I put together a book on taxes in Canada, Tax Is Not a Four-Letter Word. We had quite different
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Taking the HST off hydro is bad policy, if good politics
One of the signature campaign planks for the NDP in the 2014 Ontario Election is to remove the HST from our hydro bills, saving perhaps $120 a year for average families. The motivation behind this – reducing the cost to average families – is reasonable and will undoubtedly be a
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Alberta’s Sales Tax Phobia
Ever since I was a child growing up, Alberta has made a big deal about how we don’t have a sales tax. Back in the day, when resource revenues were perhaps more predictable because the markets didn’t move as fast as they do now, perhaps that was a good thing.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Christy Clark Is Unstoppable
Christy Clark is unstoppable. She became Liberal Leader with only the support of one MLA. Members of her caucus criticized her. 17 of them fearing defeat didn’t run for re-election. Practically every pundit and journalist thought Clark was going to lose and so did every single polling firm. But last
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Christy Clark Is Unstoppable
Christy Clark is unstoppable. She became Liberal Leader with only the support of one MLA. Members of her caucus criticized her. 17 of them fearing defeat didn’t run for re-election. Practically every pundit and journalist thought Clark was going to lose and so did every single polling firm. But last
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Christy Clark Is Unstoppable
Christy Clark is unstoppable.She became Liberal Leader with only the support of one MLA. Members of her caucus criticized her. 17 of them fearing defeat didn’t run for re-election. Practically every pundit and journalist thought Clark was going to lose…
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