I just got my confirmation for the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour today – in the email. Bravo, Ottawa Bicycle Club. You’ve made it to the age of email. As snarky as that sounded, I would appreciate the efforts the club staff and volunteers make if they sent their confirmations on
Continue readingTag: taxation
Northern Insight: Morton’s Fork, Alberta
In the politics of Alberta, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg vision has been bastardized to become “government of business, by business, for business.” In the April 23 election, voters can re-elect a tired, incompetent Conservative government which, according to Alberta journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, does: “a much better job representing the interests of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Neil Reynolds’ Fuzzy Tax Math
If you need help with your tax return, don’t ask Neil Reynolds. His latest attack on the New Democrat proposal to collect modestly more tax from Ontario’s super-rich stated that “the province’s highest marginal rate on personal income would rise, federal and provincial rates combined, from 46.4 per cent to 49.4
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: A Bank for the Taxpayer’s Buck?
Hi all, I interrupt your regular blog viewing to bring you one of my infrequent posts, this time by a guest contributor — Alan Milner — who for reasons of job security, must remain anonymous. With no further ado: ******************************************************************* A Bank for the Taxpayer’s Buck? The Canadian tax system
Continue readingcmkl: Niceying up the wealthy so we feel bad for them when we want to tax them more
There’s this refreshing counter-melody threading in and out of the deafening cacophony of rhetoric around cutting our way to greatness and the great quest for lower wages and cheaper stuff. You can barely hear it. But it’s there.
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Down this road, no taxes for business
While getting refunds of every cent they pay, business people enthusiastically support you and I paying HST. They aim to relieve themselves of income taxes too. While working people, even those on the brink of poverty, pay income tax, large corporations arrange business affairs to avoid or evade taxation of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: SK Budget: Where’s the Inter-governmental Love?
A hallmark of Brad Wall’s premiership has been cosy relations with municipal governments and the two westernmost provincial governments. Since taking office, the Sask. Party has been throwing money at municipalities. It pledged not to sign the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement with Alberta and BC, but then did
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Taxing Ontario’s Richest
Ontario’s NDP was out today with a Robin Hood proposal to collect more provincial tax from personal incomes in excess of half a million dollars. The approximately $570 million of additional revenue would increase the Ontario Disability Support Plan, protect childcare spaces and remove provincial HST from home heating. UBC
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Taxing High Incomes in Ontario
It is notable that the scale of Ontario’s ostensibly dire fiscal position did not prompt any notable response on the tax side, beyond postponing planned reductions to the corporate tax rate. The government could have raised taxes on high income earners as at least a token of solidarity with everybody
Continue readingcmkl: Don Drummond, meet Hugh Mackenzie
Then take your stupid report and chuck it. The CCPA has published a new hunk of PDF by economist Hugh Mackenzie which slices and dices the Drummond report’s fiscal forecast and portrays it as a crisis-invention tool. I hate PDFs too, but I think it’s important enough to have a
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: BC isn’t broke: putting teacher bargaining in perspective
Last Monday, BC teachers held a Day of Action in communities across the province to protest the BC government’s decision to legislate a contract and put an end to their collective bargaining process. I was invited to speak to teachers at the Surrey rally, where I had the opportunity to
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Debunking Drummond
The Drummond report claims that Ontario is headed for a $30-billion deficit. This figure has been widely and uncritically reported. For example, The Globe and Mail, printed four articles featuring this number in its February 18 edition. The Ontario government projected a balanced budget with a $1-billion contingency reserve by
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Why taxing food staples should not be considered a policy option in Canada
Here’s an excellent piece by Sam Boshra, about the recent proposal by Michael Smart and Jack Mintz to apply the GST to food, from Sam’s blog at Economic Justice: Low-income households can’t buy food today with a larger HST rebate they hope to get sometime in the future. A key objective
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: In the Wake of the Crisis: Bully Capitalism
A shorter version of this article appears today at Economy Lab, the Globe and Mail’s on-line business feature. Capitalism has entered an ugly new era, one that may work well for the shareholders of world, but not for the rest of us. I couldn’t help but notice that, on the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Corporate canada’s financial investments: an aggregate view
Today’s release by the CLC of a study on corporate Canada’s balance sheets, shows not only a trend in declining real investment but also a rising involvement in financial markets. Non financial corporations are not only hoarding cash they are also using cash flow to buy up positions in financial
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Tax Shifting
Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab published a piece by Stephen Gordon arguing that high income and corporate taxes won’t generate much revenue. Gordon used used the metaphor of Jean-Baptiste Colbert’s (finance minister to the Louis XIV, the “Sun King”) that the art of taxation was like plucking feathers
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Cost of Inequitable Tax Loopholes Increases
Finance Canada published its annual Tax Expenditure Report for 2011 and it shows that the cost of some of the most inequitable tax preferences and loopholes continues to rise. For instance the stock option deduction, which allows CEOs and executives to pay tax at half the rate of ordinary working income, is
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
December marked the three-year anniversary of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. While I believe there is much to celebrate, much remains to be done. The Strategy surprised a lot of observers, especially in light of the fact that it was announced in December 2008, just as Ontario was entering a recession.
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.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Flaherty’s Christmas List – all Mixed Up
Following recent dismal reports on rising unemployment, stagnant GDP growth, and a deteriorating economic outlook, we can only hope federal Finance minister Jim Flaherty will provide some Christmas cheer with changes “to better promote job creation and economic growth” (as he’s asked for advice on through his pre-budget consultations). Unfortunately,
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