The government has raised income taxes on the majority of middle-class Canadian families, despite repeated claims of the opposite
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute Too often, reality doesn’t match political rhetoric. The federal government's tax relief promises are a case in point. On the federal election campaign trail in 2015, Justin Trudeau promised to cut income taxes for middle-class Canadian families. And since becoming prime minister, he and his government have repeatedly…
Options for reform are severely limited so long as a rule requiring program costs to escalate every year remains
By Ben Eisen and Joel Emes The Fraser Institute Jason Kenney, candidate for the leadership of Alberta’s United Conservative Party, recently called for reform to Canada’s equalization program. Specifically, he suggested a referendum in Alberta to force the federal government to consider removing non-renewable resource revenue (in Alberta’s case, mostly revenue from oil) from calculations…
Imagine what Pierre Trudeau would have thought of his son's hyphenated Canadian fixation
Like father, like son? Not so for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who appears to have selected a path at odds with the best of his father's legacy. Pierre Trudeau, even as one of the most divisive prime ministers in Canadian history, was a champion of a singular, unifying notion: one Canada. He boldly fought to…
Tax reform proposals will discourage the kind of investment and risk-taking needed to expand Canada’s economy
By Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis The Fraser Institute Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently made an extraordinary statement that unfortunately encapsulates the federal government’s approach to economic policy. Explaining the government’s proposed changes to small business taxation to CTV, Morneau used the phrase “going after” to describe the approach to extract more taxes from incorporated “professionals…
Almost absent in the debate about proposed Canadian changes are any voices defending the idea of tax fairness
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s proposals for tightening tax breaks associated with private companies is generating several kinds of response on social media and in mainstream media. The most evident is an impressive deluge of evidence-free rhetoric claiming that the proposals are an attack on everything from the middle class to maternity leave for female…
The federal government’s proposed changes to capital gains rules make it more difficult for a farm to stay in the family
Two things have always been certain: death and taxes. We can now add a third: botching the promotion of a tax reform for political gains. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s tax reform has been a communications disaster, on both sides of the debate. Various claims made about Ottawa’s intentions to revamp our tax system for…
The debate over internet, cable and mobile rates is far more complex than the Twitter universe reflects
All the average citizen knows about their cable, mobile and Internet bills is that – like taxes – they always go up. For those who care why this happens, a brief Twitter tour of #crtc will introduce you to the debates surrounding the inexhaustible and often catty haggling over how your cable, cellphone and Internet…
The late Allan J. MacEachen’s words of caution for bureaucrats still ring true: beware of entitlement, arrogance and cynicism
The only reason sane people get involved in politics – or create a work of art, write a book, build a bridge, climb mountains – is because they want to be immortal. We’re all going to die sooner or later, and we want to be remembered for something. How else do you explain giving up…
Four distinct candidates offer very different views on how socialism and social democracy will evolve in Canada
In a few weeks, the federal New Democratic Party will have a new leader. The four remaining candidates have very different visions for Canada – and, quite frankly, for the future of Canadian socialism and social democracy. Here’s a quick overview. Charlie Angus, the MP for Timmins-James Bay, has emerged as the establishment candidate (of…
The Liberals are making a huge mistake by sticking to their guns on changes to Canada's tax code and it could back to bite them
Dear Messrs. Trudeau and Morneau: So, small businesses. Almost 12 years ago, I started one. It was quite a thing. Before that, I’d been special assistant to Jean Chretien on Parliament Hill. I’d been a partner at a Bay Street law firm. I’d been a vice-president at a Vancouver ad agency. I’d been a reporter…
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute Too often, reality doesn’t match political rhetoric. The federal government's tax relief promises are a case in point. On the federal election campaign trail in 2015, Justin Trudeau promised to cut income taxes for middle-class Canadian families. And since becoming prime minister, he and his government have repeatedly…
