Tax relief is instantaneous. Money is simply left in the hands of those who need it. There’s no application to be processed
As Canadians stay home to keep their communities safe in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, millions of people are out of work and countless businesses have closed their doors. It’s an unprecedented situation. Never before have governments deliberately put their economies into a coma in order to fight a health pandemic. And with the…
We need tax reforms and other initiatives that will help spur entrepreneurial spirit and encourage investment
Canada is gradually losing its competitiveness – but it can be regained. According to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), a graduate business school and research centre, we’re down three spots from 2018 to 13th. Canada is now ranked below the United States and Switzerland, as well as other energy-dominated nations such as Norway,…
The health-care system in theory exists for the benefit of Albertans. We pay the bills, yet we’re not at the table
By Charlie Fischer and Judy Birdsell IMAGINE Citizens Collaborating for Health It’s positive that the government of Alberta and physicians have created a working group to find a way to reach common ground in the current dispute over the doctors’ cancelled contract. Yet, IMAGINE Citizens Collaborating for Health, a citizen-led organization that aspires to support Albertans…
It’s tax season in our family medicine clinic. Seriously. You might think it’s coronavirus all the time in family practice these days. But, being family doctors, we see the full picture of health – what causes illness, what prevents it, and what keeps us happy and well. And that’s why we’re excitedly preparing for the…
How one endorsement could change the federal Conservative leadership race, pushing MacKay into the background
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney endorsed former Veterans Affairs minister Erin O’Toole in the federal Conservative leadership election on March 5. Quite a few political observers were surprised by his decision. Some wondered why Kenney did it so early, since a new leader won’t be chosen until June 27. Others were puzzled why he backed O’Toole,…
The best way to enrich society is to encourage billionaires to produce even more. We should never tax creativity of any kind out of existence
According to many, confiscatory taxes should be levied against the wealthiest members of society until billionaires are taxed out of existence. Just ask devotees of U.S. Democratic Party luminaries Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, their ideological counterparts in left-wing circles in Canada, and even 62 per cent of the audience at a recent TVO debate…
Toronto is a perfect example of a municipal system out of touch with effective policing. More money and new processes don't result in less crime
Police services are once again hard at work preparing annual budget submissions for the next fiscal year. The cost of policing continues to mount year after year, and the justifications seem to repeat year to year as well. The budget for Canada’s largest municipal police force, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) now exceeds $1.2 billion,…
Idyllic descriptions of medicare do not fairly represent the challenging realities that are the day-to-day experiences of many Canadians
As the title suggests, The American Prospect article What Medicare for All Really Looks Like claims to describe the realities of Canadian medicare to our southern neighbours. So, it is both ironic – and disappointing – that a careful reading reveals it to be remarkable only in its unwillingness to examine these realities in any meaningful…
As more resources go towards paying debt interest, the gap between what we pay in taxes and what we receive in services widens
By Tegan Hill and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently confirmed that, should a recession occur, Ottawa will turn on the spending taps using borrowed money. This government’s lack of fiscal discipline coupled with a willingness – if not outright enthusiasm – for even more deficit spending could imperil federal…
When it comes to how and how much workers should save for retirement, the federal government doesn’t know better than Canadians themselves
As the calendar flipped to 2020, the federal government again made the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) tax more expensive, even though CPP doesn’t help the economy or workers. The combined employee and employer contribution rate has risen from 10.2 per cent in 2019 to 10.5 per cent this year, while the maximum taxable amount (but…
As Canadians stay home to keep their communities safe in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, millions of people are out of work and countless businesses have closed their doors. It’s an unprecedented situation. Never before have governments deliberately put their economies into a coma in order to fight a health pandemic. And with the…
