Leaving huge bills for future generations to pay
By Jason Clemens and Jake Fuss The Fraser Institute Since coming to power in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his finance ministers have characterized their management of federal finances as “prudent,” an adjective meaning to act with or show care and thought for the future. Acting prudently would mean being judicious about borrowing and debt.…
Finance Minister Travis Toews may hit Albertans with a PST once the pandemic settles
Albertans didn’t elect the United Conservatives so they could have their turn reaching deeper into our pockets and UCP MLAs need to remind Finance Minister Travis Toews of that fact because he keeps flirting with the idea of a provincial sales tax. “The timing is the question here,” said Toews on Nov. 13, referencing a…
Two centuries ago, clergyman Thomas Malthus expounded the proposition that population always outruns food supply. He said population increases geometrically while food supply increases, at best, only arithmetically. Half a century ago the Green Revolution, enabling massive increases in agricultural production, allayed such fears. Arguably, however, it will be impossible to repeat that revolution. Even…
How do we sustain large deficits, wind them down and gradually slow the debt accumulation?
Ordinary Canadians have begun worrying about something that usually only ‘dismal scientists’ – i.e. economists – care about: our alarming federal and provincial deficits and exploding government debt. Putting an economy into lockdown was assuredly going to reduce tax revenues and increase transfers to individuals and businesses to ameliorate the devastation wrought by the COVID-19…
Canadians love receiving government largesse, as long as someone else is paying for it, even if it is their kids
By Jason Clemens and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Pulitzer Prize-winning author George Will has repeatedly argued that, contrary to conventional wisdom, there is enormous consensus in Washington, D.C. – borrow today to finance spending and tax cuts but leave the costs (i.e. taxes) to the next generation. There are increasing signs that Canadians are…
New powers will crush consumer freedom, tax and regulate content on the internet, stifle investment, and increase the cost of streaming subscriptions
A federal government that only a few years ago spoke brightly about innovation and embracing the 21st century has sadly lost its way. That was made apparent this week when – smuggled in on U.S. election day when it would get the least attention possible – Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault unveiled legislation giving the Canadian…
Every government-employee paycheque ultimately comes from taxpayers. That seems like an obvious point. But union bosses seem to need a reminder. Surrounded by striking government employees in Alberta Union of Provincial Employees garb, union boss Guy Smith claimed that “only in Alberta do they not give you the resources you need to do the work…
Rather than covering every Canadian for drugs they can already afford, we should focus on those who fall through the cracks
With fears related to COVID-19 and the economy running high, a new poll by the Angus Reid Institute reveals near universal support for some sort of public pharmacare plan. However, it also inadvertently revealed that, despite such support, most Canadians don’t actually need it. Conducted in partnership with a list of experts who have long…
A ship without an anchor risks drifting into stormy waters. The same is true of governments that borrow and spend. More than six months into the global pandemic, it’s time for the Trudeau government to figure out what safeguards to put in place to ensure our temporary plunge into record deficits doesn’t become a permanent…
For politicians, spending expands to meet any additional revenue, so a sales tax would only increase spending, not reduce the deficit
Alberta’s finances are a mess. By the end of the year, Alberta will have the largest deficit in the province’s history coupled with a $100-billion debt tab. Almost like clockwork, some academics are recommending a provincial sales tax to pull the government out of its sea of red ink. But the pseudo sales tax solution…