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…
taxation
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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,…
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.…
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…
Taxing Capital Gains
The following also appears in The Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab: Earlier this week, Kevin Milligan questioned proposals “to increase the tax on capital gains.” Currently, Canadian income tax applies…
Is Money Enough? The Meaning of 6% and Flaherty’s Health “Plan”
A shorter version of this piece was posted on the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab As Christmas presents go, this one was a shocker: Over lunch on Monday, cash-strapped Finance…
OECD on Inequality
Following concern expressed by the IMF, the Conference Board and of course thousands of protesters around the world, the OECD has just released an extensive 400 page report on the…
Economics, Media and Mass Manipulation
Change is inevitable when the cards are stacked against so many people.
Corporate Tax Evasion on a Global Scale
This new study from Education International looks interesting. “This EI study follows on from a previous study published in March 2010 by Global Financial Integrity, a research and advocacy organisation…
More Corus charitable work
Annual financial reports filed by Canadian charities with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), are rudimentary and largely unchecked by tax department officials. This suggests rather little oversight is exercised despite…
Good tax, bad tax
News item, The Guardian, November 3, 2011: "Bill Gates will tell the G20 group of developed and developing countries on Thursday that they could raise an extra $48bn (£30bn) a…
It is class warfare…
begun the financial overlords who control all of the major levers of power in what passes for our democracy. ... three decades of rampant upper-crust greed ... will be well…
Federal R&D Panel Report
In a week when business lobby groups are appearing before the House of Commons Committee on Finance and calling for more tax breaks, the federal R&D Panel appointed a year…