Some corporations are doing better than ever while Canadians struggle with skyrocketing cost of living. Let’s tax them
Inflation in Canada is the highest it’s been since the 1990s, but the reason behind the rising cost of living is different this time and rich corporations are part of the story. Canada hit a new all-time high in corporate profits between October and December last year – $139 billion in pre-tax profits, to be…
It takes from the poor and middle class and gives to the rich
“The NFL is the richest sports franchise, full of billionaire capitalists demanding socialist handouts so they can make even more profits.” – Ralph Nader The billionaire owners of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, Terry and Kim Pegula, have landed US$850 million in taxpayer dollars for the construction of a new…
Unfortunately, city council is not willing to give up on a deal just yet
Taxpayers may have dodged a bullet. Calgary’s arena deal has fallen through. While Mayor Jyoti Gondek laments the loss, taxpayers should be relieved since it was a bad deal and the only winners were rich hockey team owners. As beloved as the Calgary Flames are, they are not a charity. According to Forbes, the team…
Rather than subsist on government aid, Air Canada should urge officials to ease travel restrictions
A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, the only thing keeping Air Canada alive is the federal government bailouts. They’re delaying the inevitable and sensible way out: cutting travel restrictions, encouraging tourism by ensuring effective containment and encouraging vaccination. In April, the government granted the firm another $5.9-billion loan to keep it afloat…
There is no subsidy pot of gold going to oil and gas companies that can be diverted to renewable energy ventures
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre When the issue of taxpayer subsidies for energy comes up – oil and gas and renewables alike – the public, policy-makers and media could be forgiven if they feel like they’re drowning. Endless decimal points and numbers that run into the trillions can make it near…
Centerra is being held hostage by Kyrgyzstan but, fortunately, it is no longer part of a Crown corporation so taxpayers aren't on the hook
Centerra, a mid-size Canadian gold-mining company, is engaged in a legal and political dispute with the government of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia with a chronically unstable and fractious political class and culture. Its main asset, the Kumtor mine, is in that troubled land and the source of roughly half of its…
Fed's bailout marks a return to the airline's status as a stratospheric ward of the state
In early April, the government of Canada announced it would support Air Canada through the rest of the lockdown-induced decline in air travel, with loans and, in a return to its previous status as a stratospheric ward of the state, $500 million in equity capital. It’s understandable that the government would want some chance of…
Government intervention in films and television is both expensive and unwarranted
The much-anticipated Island of Bryan (Season 3) started on HGTV a few weeks ago. The series follows well-known builder and entrepreneur Bryan Baeumler and his family as they try to rejuvenate an abandoned resort in the Bahamas. Baeumler is a successful TV personality from Ontario. And clearly, many Canadians enjoy his shows. But here’s the…
Finance committee voted to give a $2.9 million tax break to a new Porsche(!) dealership
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is preparing to take Ottawa taxpayers for quite a ride. Ottawa city council’s finance committee voted to give a $2.9 million tax break to a new Porsche dealership. Ottawa’s municipal politicians are literally planning to hand over millions of taxpayer dollars to a luxury car dealership. And they think this is…
The Trudeau government is raiding our Covid-19 starved pockets to send $36 from each of us to rich dairy farmers
Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau chose a Saturday, hours before a long-awaited federal economic update, to offer more non-COVID-19-related compensation to Canada’s supply-managed farmers. Eighty-one per cent of dairy farmers are located in Quebec and Ontario. Compensation was expected but how it was done was a little strange. Few in the industry knew what…