Risks killing the golden goose while doing nothing for the environment A tonne is a tonne is a tonne. Whether emitted by an oilsands mine in Fort McMurray, an auto plant in Oshawa, or a private jet manufacturer in Montreal, a tonne of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere has the exact same effect on our…
Applies only to oil and gas sector. Quebec aircraft manufacturers, Ontario auto plants get a free ride It’s hard to wrap one’s head around what $45 billion represents. It’s such a huge number that, for most of us, it essentially becomes meaningless. And yet, it’s about as much as our federal government spends in a…
Just another way of increasing the taxpayer burden Earlier this year, the federal government announced its intention to add one more tax onto the pile already being paid by taxpayers, this one on digital services. This new tax would be a three per cent levy on the total revenues of companies in the online services…
Not to do so hurts us, our allies and the environment
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently completed a trip to Canada to discuss, among other things, Europe importing Canadian natural gas. With the invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, Germany, which imported 55 per cent of its natural gas from Russia in 2021, has had to reopen some coal plants and has started looking…
The big losers from the tariff are, without a doubt, American consumers
By Olivier Rancourt and Gabriel Giguere The Canadian softwood lumber dispute with the United States, which has been dragging on for some 40 years now, is long overdue for a resolution. Despite setbacks before WTO and NAFTA tribunals, accusations of subsidized production from American decision-makers and producers continue. The accusations have notably led to the…
High inflation distorts the application of the capital gains taxes that many of us pay
By Valentin Petkantchin and Olivier Rancourt Montreal Economic Institute The 5.7 per cent year-on-year inflation Canada registered in February has not been seen since the early 1990s. Expansionary monetary policies and the economic sanctions accompanying the Russia-Ukraine war suggest that significant inflation is here for a while. High inflation not only erodes our purchasing power,…
The federal debt is now over $1.26 trillion!
By Gabriele Giguère and Olivier Rancourt Montreal Economic Institute The Bank of Canada’s decision to increase the policy interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, up to one per cent, was necessary in the current context. The soaring inflation that is hitting the Canadian economy full force, reaching 5.7 per cent in February, must be reined…
It’s time to tackle the inflation that is undermining our living standards
By Miguel Ouellette and Olivier Rancourt Montreal Economic Institute Despite the recommendations of many economists to raise the target for the overnight rate, the Bank of Canada has decided to maintain the status quo – at least for now. Like these experts, we believe that the central bank must begin gradually raising rates at its…
Policies should be fair for all Canadians, regardless of where they happen to live
By Miguel Ouellette Olivier Rancourt and Krystle Wittevrongel Montreal Economic Institute Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is one of the big concerns of our age. The numerous diverging interests pitted against each other on this issue make it a real puzzler for policy-makers, though. After many years of public policies aimed at reducing GHGs, layered…
Stop punishing consumers for the choices they make because simply they fail to conform to yours
For the past several months, the Trudeau government has been on a crusade against the so-called GAFA companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon). Different government departments have stated that these tech giants are not paying their “fair share” in Canadian taxes and use news content without compensation. They are looking to the European GAFA tax…