How Canada got a step closer to taming its big fiscal beast
TheGlobeandMail.com – ROB/Commentary
Mar. 08, 2016. Dylan Marando
Dylan Marando is a PhD student at the University of Toronto and a former adviser in the Office of the Premier of Ontario.
On Feb. 23, the Department of Finance made the unprecedented decision to release tax expenditure figures in database format. You may not have felt the tremor, but this liberation of hitherto cloistered information was earth-moving in the world of Canadian public finance. It has brought us one step closer to understanding and thus taming Canada’s most unwieldy fiscal beast – a hidden multibillion-dollar boondoggle born from an excessive politicization of public policy.
For years now, the government has been drifting toward the use of tax expenditure as a means of policy, and we have lacked the tools to analyze what’s happening. Colloquially known as boutique tax breaks, benefits, or loopholes, this policy instrument has generated programs such as the Public Transit Tax Credit and the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit. Measures such as these are thought to incentivize desired behaviours through targeted tax relief.
It sounds simple, almost like a tax cut. But, in fact, these budgetary boogeymen are subsidies to the select few, often conveniently benefiting the sorts of voters that form the support base of the political powers that be. Many tax expenditures, but thankfully not all, are disproportionately beneficial to the wealthy given their countervailing effect on the progressivity of the income tax system. Research by Ben Sand and Peter Taylor for the Frontier Centre For Public Policy notes that the top income quartile in Canada claims 43 per cent of the value for the aforementioned public transit credit and 71 per cent of the value for the children’s fitness credit.
As the Parliamentary Budget Office reported, already in 2009 there were 189 of these programs, costing the government more than $100-billion a year and representing an astounding 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product. The cost of tax expenditures is greater than the voted appropriations of the federal government.
More troubling, tax expenditures are invisible in the policy discourse. They are not reported in the budget. There is no statutory obligation to review them. As far back as 1976, those skeptical of the tool’s stubborn opacity and growing power asked the government to inform Parliament of costs and benefits. The parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance rose and said: “The information requested is not generated routinely in the regular processing of taxation data. To obtain this information would require special data processing the cost of which would be several thousand dollars. Answering the question would thus be prohibitively expensive.”
Amazingly, that answer was the standard for 40 years. The government did not start reporting on tax expenditures in any form until 1979. It was not until 1994 that the Department of Finance began publishing estimates; even then, the information that came was highly unusable.
In an analysis from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Canada’s former chief statistician said of the programs: “Taxpayers neither know accurately how much tax they are paying nor do they have any knowledge of the many ways their tax dollars are being spent, and with what effectiveness.” In the United States, critics have been sounding alarms for years. Cornell University professor Suzanne Mettler argues that tax expenditures create a “submerged state” that detaches the public from policy making, thus enabling governments of the right and left to pursue ideological agendas without public push-back. Prof. Mettler sees this phenomenon as a threat to democratic institutions and evidence-based policy making. My doctoral research seeks to test Prof. Mettler’s thesis in the Canadian context. But roadblocks abound, including access to coherent data.
The trend to hide these expenditures is beginning to change. To be sure, there is a long road ahead. The first step is accurately describing tax expenditures. Then, advocates need to call for the elimination of those programs not well aligned to the broad public interest. We must do more to grasp the political implications of a tax-expenditure-driven system of public policy. Thankfully, we are one step closer.
< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/how-canada-got-a-step-closer-to-taming-its-big-fiscal-beast/article29056199/ >
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, tax
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2016 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Governance Policy Context. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
439 Responses to “How Canada got a step closer to taming its big fiscal beast”
« Older Comments | Newer Comments »
Leave a Reply
Recent Comments
Your resources are well developed.
Performance depends on the browser, memory, and graphics capabilities of the device. c775b334.
Для получения квалифицированной помощи по [url=https://rasseyanii-skleroz.ru]ретробульбарный неврит и рассеянный склероз[/url], рекомендуем обратиться в специализированные клиники, где осуществляют диагностику и индивидуальный подбор терапии для всех возрастных групп.
Важно, чтобы лечение проводилось под контролем опытных неврологов, которые умеют подбирать наиболее эффективные схемы.
My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was entirely right. This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
I think other website proprietors should take this web site as an model, very clean and great user pleasant style and design .
I dont think Ive caught all the angles of this subject the way youve pointed them out. Youre a true star, a rock star man. Youve got so much to say and know so much about the subject that I think you should just teach a class about it
[url=https://events.vedomosti.ru/speakers/shahrai-igor-1776]vedomosti.ru[/url]
[url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3811643]коммерсант[/url]
Получить [url=https://rega-v-msk-777.ru]сколько стоит временная регистрация в Москве[/url] можно, обратившись в уполномоченные органы или через специализированные компании.
Для регистрации необходимо оформить заявление и предъявить паспорт, а также другие требуемые документы.
Would a simple comparison station help visitors see how scarf colors affect a portrait? At an upcoming library portrait session, we hope to offer visitors a few scarves to try. I want the choice to feel playful, with no suggestion that one set of colors belongs to everyone. One idea is to compare softer and brighter scarves against the same background without changing the camera setup. I am unsure how to discuss the differences while respecting a visitor who simply likes a particular shade. Could we start by asking where the eye goes in each photograph, leaving seasonal names until later? A topic I would like to understand better is [url=https://bodytypes.top]personal color analysis[/url] though practical experience with a community activity would be more useful than another rigid list of rules. How would you frame the exercise so visitors leave with observations they can use rather than a fixed label?
Tenemos tres dias para conocer Mallorca y preferimos escoger pocas paradas antes que pasar las vacaciones mirando el reloj. Sobre el papel hemos separado una jornada urbana y dos salidas, aunque todavia podemos cambiar ese reparto. El problema es que algunas propuestas mezclan puntos muy alejados sin explicar cuanto tiempo se pierde entre ellos. He guardado como referencia esta pagina sobre [url=https://rutaspormallorca.top]3 dias en mallorca.[/url] Todavia no hemos reservado coche, de modo que tambien nos interesa saber que parte podria hacerse en transporte publico. Nos gustaria dejar tiempo para pasear y comer, sin convertir cada pausa en un retraso sobre el programa. Si el tiempo cambia, nos vendria bien poder intercambiar las jornadas sin perder reservas dificiles de modificar. Nos alojaremos en un unico sitio y preferimos regresar a dormir alli cada noche, asi que los desplazamientos de vuelta tambien cuentan al organizar cada jornada. ?Como repartirias esas tres jornadas para evitar desplazamientos innecesarios?
Estoy coordinando una actividad para un pequeno grupo en Mallorca y ha surgido la idea de visitar una bodega. Hay quien busca una degustacion y quien prefiere centrarse en la visita, sin participar en la parte de cata. Por eso intento separar la visita guiada de los extras antes de comparar precios o enviar una consulta. Tambien debemos organizar el regreso sin depender de que una persona del grupo tenga que conducir despues de beber. Ademas del precio, queremos preguntar por los horarios, la lengua de la visita y el numero de participantes. Antes de escribir a una bodega quiero reunir estas dudas en un solo mensaje, para que cada persona sepa que esta reservando. Como punto de partida para comparar he guardado esta referencia: [url=https://excursionesmallorca.top]bodegas de mallorca para visitar[/url] ?Que criterios utilizariais para elegir una experiencia que resulte interesante tambien para quienes no participan en la cata? Agradeceria conocer experiencias concretas con sus condiciones, para poder preguntar despues directamente al establecimiento y confirmar los detalles.
I am choosing a generated instrumental loop for a spoken episode, and the quiet pauses reveal a thin metallic texture. My concern is the final balance beneath speech, where a small texture may behave differently than it does alone. I can shorten the loop or choose another passage, although either choice changes the pacing around the introduction. I came across [url=https://removeaudioartifacts.top]remove ai artifacts from audio[/url] while looking for ways to frame the decision. I have not processed this passage yet and would like a sensible comparison procedure before changing the file. Does it make sense to compare both versions under an identical section of speech? I would keep the music level fixed and include a pause long enough to expose the texture. A solo playback could still help identify unwanted changes to cymbals or the stereo image. How would you decide whether the texture warrants repair in the actual episode?
One sustained note in our current song sketch has an odd metallic tail. The rest of the phrase works for the melody, and my writing partner wants to keep its timing. Starting the section again could disturb the phrasing. We can try another generation of the same musical passage, but that might also replace the little pause that makes the line convincing. I started looking into [url=https://musicartifactcleaner.top]ai music artifact removal[/url] as one possible route, without assuming it can rescue this particular note. We are still making a reference for the song itself. We are not facing a delivery deadline. Would you first shorten the note, replace that phrase, or test a conservative cleanup on a copy? Keeping the character of the vocal matters most. An imperfect note could still serve the sketch. Where would you draw the line and replace the phrase?
I inherited a patterned scarf with a damaged border, and I would like to repair it so I can wear it again. I would rather test carefully than unpick stitches from fragile fabric later. Only the edging needs replacing, but its original shade is difficult to identify now. The closest available trims are a subdued green and a noticeably warmer shade of brown. Neither is an exact match, so the repair will inevitably introduce a new color. I started looking into [url=https://hairdye.top]color analysis[/url] since the new edging would frame my face whenever I wear the scarf loosely. I can pin short samples in place before sewing anything onto the old fabric. I want to preserve its character, but I also want to enjoy wearing it. Would you prioritize matching the remaining fabric or comparing each trim against the wearer?
I am planning a short listening exercise for an audio workshop. The aim is to help participants describe what they hear before they decide which version they prefer, rather than treating every change as an improvement. A brief generated recording would provide the starting example. Every version would contain an identical stretch of the performance. A page discussing [url=https://musicartifactfix.top]ai music artifact removal[/url] gave me a starting point for the topic, but it does not settle how to structure the exercise. The versions should be presented at comparable listening levels. Participants could write down observations before seeing labels. An unprocessed reference belongs alongside any proposed repair. Separate questions about texture and clarity would keep the discussion specific. We could repeat the excerpts in a different order and discuss disagreements, since a single preference vote would reveal little about the reasons behind it. What listening criteria would you add to this exercise?
I am making a short looping animation with a few small movements and no spoken dialogue. I like the mood of the generated music sketch, yet its bright continuous texture distracts from the small actions. I could revise the sound, replace the sketch, or allow longer quiet gaps around the actions. My search brought up the phrase [url=https://repairsuno.top]suno shimmer[/url] but I have not established the cause of this particular texture. Would you judge the clip with the animation first, or compare the sound separately before returning to the picture? I want the little movements to remain readable without making the whole soundtrack feel empty. The loop will play on a small screen as well as headphones, so I can check both contexts. I would keep the comparison volume consistent and use the same section of animation. How do you compare several options without becoming too accustomed to the distracting texture?
Our rehearsal room has made a backing track surprisingly difficult to judge. The bright passages sound rough through the room speakers, although headphones give a different impression. I would like to check the playback setup before editing the recording. I can compare another speaker, lower the level, and listen from several positions. Which comparison would you make first in this situation? One topic I am reading about is [url=https://fixesuno.top]suno fix[/url] in this context. That gives me a starting point for questions, but it cannot diagnose our room. If the roughness follows the file, I would keep the original and test only a short copy. I will use the same excerpt for every comparison, write down the playback level, and ask another person to listen before we make any decision about changing the source recording. The goal is comfortable rehearsal playback without losing the accents musicians need to hear.
A small exhibition needs a repeating background track, and I am working out the preparation steps. I need to think about the transition between the final section and the opening passage. I want to treat that boundary separately from any distracting texture elsewhere in the track. I bookmarked [url=https://sunofixer.top]remove suno artifacts[/url] while gathering possible references for the second question. My first pass would identify possible loop points and check them over repeated playback. The playback system also needs checking because the actual player may introduce a gap between files. Only after that would I decide whether an internal texture deserves a separate experiment. I would keep the original beside each trial version to compare the overall musical character. The final check would use the actual speakers and the expected exhibition playback level. What would you check first when preparing this kind of continuous playback?
For an introductory music session, I want students to compare a few generated excerpts. The aim is to describe audible differences without guessing which tool produced them. My starting point is a set of lettered excerpts played at comparable levels. The versions would share the same passage, avoiding differences in composition. A first listening pass could record when something distracts them, without explaining why. The group includes people with different listening experience, so technical vocabulary should be optional. I would collect individual notes before discussing them together, and let students replay the excerpt when they need to check whether their first impression holds up. I found a resource on [url=https://sunomusicfix.top]ai audio artifact removal[/url] that might inform an optional later comparison. It has not been tested for this exercise, so I cannot claim a benefit. The exercise needs room for the original version to be preferred. Which simple criteria would encourage precise observations without steering the verdict?