When you give bureaucrats an inch, they take a mile
Charlottetown taxpayers are being taken to the cleaners by out-of-control city officials and government bureaucrats. After years of abuse, it’s time for Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King to shine a light on this sorry saga. To understand the plight of Charlottetown taxpayers, consider this scenario. Imagine you’re at your favourite restaurant. Although inflation might…
Bracket creep has cost taxpayers too much for too long
If a business overcharged you by $450, you might want an explanation. The least that business could do is stop overcharging you in the future. Prices for everything from groceries to gasoline are going up fast enough without overcharges on top. Prince Edward Island MLAs owe Islanders an explanation about their income tax bills. The…
Prince Edward Island has to stop digging into Islander families’ pockets
The government of Prince Edward Island seems happier to acknowledge inflation’s impact on your wallet than to do something about it. Prince Edward Island is one of only three Canadian provinces – along with Alberta and Nova Scotia – that does not index any tax brackets to inflation. As a result, the tax code pushes…
Eliminating trade barriers can help accelerate the economic recovery
By Alex Whalen and Ben Eisen The Fraser Institute Earlier this summer, the four Atlantic provinces formed the “Atlantic Bubble” as the region works toward freer movement of people amid the COVID crisis. And clearly, the pandemic’s effect on the economy underscores the value of free movement of people and goods, which – on the…
Controls were intended to ease consumer anger over rare but large price fluctuations. But government isn’t meant to be an anger management therapist
Gasoline price controls are a major burden for the minor benefit of having less mercurial cost fluctuations. Government policies are often contradictory. This isn’t directly the result of conspiracy or ill intent. Governments are no different than individuals. We all embrace beliefs that sometimes contradict others we hold. To eliminate these contradictions, Atlantic Canadian governments…
... the government should take this opportunity to firm up its balance sheet, pay down some debt and give relief to Islanders who need it
The P.E.I. government’s 2017 budget includes a rare and welcome projection: a balanced budget. In the past decade, across all of Atlantic Canada and party lines, surpluses have been few and far between. Deficits have also become fashionable at the federal level. Given this environment, the Prince Edward Island government deserves credit for getting back to…
Money can be saved by paring the size of the public sector, finding efficiencies, privatizing some services and controlling wages
By Marco Navarro-Génie and Jackson Doughart Contributors Atlantic Canada employs public sectors larger than the national average, to the detriment of the region's economies. Public policy choices mean that provincial and municipal governments have large commitments in civil servants' salaries and benefits. The task of shrinking provincial government expenditures will be difficult without addressing this problem.…
Unfortunately, it's sales taxes
Three Atlantic provinces now share the country's highest sales tax rate. It is hardly a noteworthy distinction. On July 1, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador raised the tax two percentage points to 15 per cent, joining Nova Scotia, which increased its harmonized sales tax (HST) in 2010. Prince Edward Island joins the club in…
Instead, it has too few young workers due to a slow economy, caused largetly by government policies
Ottawa's health-care funding model is failing. That, at least, is what Atlantic Canada's premiers tell anyone willing to listen. They want Ottawa to direct more health dollars to our region because we have an older population and a shrinking workforce. The premiers say we're being shortchanged. Premier Brian Gallant believes federal health transfers, distributed based…