Give them what they wanted, then give them even more
Your browser does not support this audioIn April, listeners to Ian Jessop’s CFAX1070 program heard about how government pays more to facilitate mining than it receives in direct payments for…
taxation
Armine, I need to hear more about this ‘fix don’t scrap TFSA’ business
I have huge amounts of respect for Armine Yalnizyan. In the People’s Republic of Chris she is Finance Minister. For life. However her latest item on rabble.ca wherein she (or…
Seniors organizations support doubling the TFSA limit? Can we have a source please?
Normally the Globe’s Parliament Hill coverage is pretty good. But this Bill Curry item makes the unattributed claim that seniors organizations support the trial-ballooned proposal to double the annual contribution…
Takin’ care of business
For each $1 million of Nestle branded water sold, BC is paid about $2. Mind you, this is a better rate of return than the province gains from resource companies…
Canada’s Economy: Not Exactly Healthy
If you are a worker, you already know that Canada's economy is a mess. The only people who don't seem to know it are at the top. Press Progress published…
Canada’s Economy: Not Exactly Healthy
If you are a worker, you already know that Canada’s economy is a mess. The only people who don’t seem to know it are at the top. Press Progress published…
Doubling Contributions To The Tax Free Savings Account: Even Nastier Than Income Splitting
The Harper government gives five reasons why Canadians ought to be happy with its proposal to double the maximum contribution to the Tax-Free Savings Account. Examine each of its points…
Sales tax not only way to pay for public services
CCPA Budget Submissions Natural Resource Royalties Reform, Iglika Ivanova, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, October 2014 BC used to collect well over $1 billion per year from natural gas royalties,…
Seccareccia on Greece, Austerity and the Eurozone
Over at the blog of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Ottawa U professor Mario Seccareccia has given an interview titled “Greece Shows the Limits of Austerity in the Eurozone.…
The So-Called Transit Referendum: Don’t Be Duped!
By Emily Griffiths The Transit referendum “Yes” campaign has been asserting itself all over Facebook, Twitter, neighbourhood news boxes, and I can’t help but ask myself, Since when is increasing…
Families earning 30K-$60K to see least benefit from Tory income splitting plan
Well now I’m just shocked. The Globe has an item about some finance department documents Canadian Press unearthed via an Access to Information Act request Families earning $30K-$60K to benefit…
A Little Heresy – Alberta Style
So, according to Premier Prentice, the downturn in oil prices is going to create an $11 Billion hole in provincial revenues, and is now talking about putting the brakes on…
‘Tis the Season to Rethink Our Charitable Giving
This op-ed by yours truly was published in The Province. The examples are BC-specific, but the message is much broader: donating to charity is not enough, we also have to…
PDF version of preceding article
I’ve had a number of requests for copies of this article by people wishing to share the information. Readers can download a copy from SCRIBD. Sorry poor people
Why the economy sucks (in one chart)
(The following is something I’ve prepared for the next issue of CUPE’s Economy at Work, a popular economics quarterly publication I produce.) In his annual Economic and Fiscal Update (EFU),…
Special treatment for special friends
Andrew MacLeod of The Tyee is reporting that BC Government officials aim to exempt natural gas producers from requirements they contribute to an industry fund that would pay to clean…
Different ways, different results
Note 11 from a study by John Calvert and Marjorie Griffith Cohen of Simon Fraser University, Climate Change and the Canadian Energy Sector: “In this regard it is interesting to…
Restraint, BC Government style
Nearly half a million children are missing school days this year because government believes that spending restraint is imperative. Restraint in collecting taxes, at least from ordinary citizens, is not…
Words and meanings
BC Liberal Throne Speech: “The core services this government provides need to be protected, and the inescapable truth is that they can only be protected if we can afford them.”…