Archive for the ‘Governance Debates’ Category
To save Canada, Mark Carney is courting foreign money. He’s risking an ‘investment invasion’
Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
The aim is simple: build Canadian assets, don’t just buy them. Assets aren’t only physical. They include the human capital that drives the economy. The terms we negotiate determine whether public or private interests prevail. But terms mean little without enforcement.
The details determine whether the deal creates value for Canadians or extracts it. The investment invasion coming to Canada may have a polished look, but keep your eye on the price-tag.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | 8 Comments »
Why simplifying Canada’s tax code is about social trust, not just saving money
Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
Economic researchers at the University of Calgary have developed a framework to evaluate what happens when a government undertakes a tax reform, and they are taking a broad view of the social returns of tax… “Administrative reform can enhance fairness and trust, but if designed or evaluated narrowly through cost and yield metrics, it can deepen distributional inequities and erode public confidence”… The first plank is measuring the social return per administrative dollar spent…
Tags: budget, economy, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 26 Comments »
Toronto will host the world’s investors this fall. But will any investment end up in health care, education or transit?
Wednesday, May 6th, 2026
What’s most disappointing about the prevailing preoccupation with making Canada an industrial and energy superpower is that this vision of Canada’s future ignores necessary investments in social goods — namely, health care, education, affordable housing and public transit. All of those are essential to Canada’s future prosperity. And all are underfunded… Striving for greater industrial sovereignty is a worthwhile ambition. But it can’t come at the expense of social investments that underpin Canadians’ well-being.
Tags: budget, Education, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | 29 Comments »
Mark Carney has forgotten who helped get him elected
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026
Headlines like “A Canada for All” sound nice. As do statements like: “the government is protecting the essential social programs that give Canadians a fair chance to get ahead — child care, dental care, and pharmacare.” But dig into the details and you learn national pharmacare is ending. There is no new money to create more child care spaces. Federal health-care spending is drastically being cut… There is effectively no new money in Carney’s fiscal plan to support what he calls “essential social programs.”
Tags: budget, child care, featured, Health, housing, jurisdiction, poverty
Posted in Governance Debates | 9 Comments »
I’m giving the CRA an extra $1 million this year. Here’s why
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Patriotic Millionaires recently commissioned new polling that found among Canadians with more than $1 million in assets (not including their homes), 71 per cent believe extreme wealth concentration is a threat to democracy, 62 per cent believe government leaders should do more to address it, and 65 per cent believe that governments should raise taxes on the very wealthy. .. Extreme wealth inequality is not inevitable. It’s the result of policy choices, and we can choose differently.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford’s push for secrecy is putting the health of Ontarians at risk
Monday, April 13th, 2026
It’s Ontarians who bear the consequences when governments grant themselves the power to be unaccountable. It’s Ontarians who endure longer ER and surgical wait times. It’s Ontarians who are left wondering where their tax dollars have gone — as leaders secretly spend public funds… Here’s what Ontario should be doing: Legislate bans on FOI carve-outs so politicians cannot simply write themselves out of oversight… Secrecy breaks the basic social contract — not only of health care, but of democracy itself.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | 8 Comments »
The 2026 Ontario budget neglects core provincial responsibilities
Monday, March 30th, 2026
The 2026 budget—much like previous budgets—fails to address the underfunding of health care, K-12 education, post-secondary education, community and social services, and rental and social housing—the core responsibilities of provincial governments. Despite reports showing that Ontario lags behind most provinces in most of these areas, this year’s budget makes no attempt to close those gaps.
Tags: budget, Education, featured, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 10 Comments »
Protected from voters’ wrath, Doug Ford’s latest budget defies fiscal reality
Friday, March 27th, 2026
Ford’s Tories have slashed traditional revenue sources by billions of dollars in good times — licence plate fees, gas taxes and tolls for drivers — only to drive the government deeper into deficit and debt… In the latest budget, those interest payments are now the Ford government’s fourth-biggest expenditure — after health care (41 per cent), education (16.7 per cent) and social services (8.8 per cent)…
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Canada has to defend this vital part of its infrastructure from America. Here are three steps Mark Carney can take
Wednesday, January 7th, 2026
With their astronomical wealth, tech companies use extraordinary, undemocratic means to shape policy conversations in favour of consolidating US power… First, Canada needs a new digital strategy and charter to meet the moment… Second, Canada must identify and secure the most critical digital systems and data from foreign control… Third, Canada must stop giving away leverage to the U.S… Digital sovereignty does not arrive by surrender.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, privatization, sovereignty, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Could a national, public ‘CanGPT’ be Canada’s answer to ChatGPT?
Friday, November 28th, 2025
… what if AI were developed as a public utility rather than as a commercial service? Canada’s long history with public service media — namely the CBC and Radio-Canada — offers a useful model for thinking about how AI could serve the public amid growing calls for a public interest approach to AI policy.
Tags: Education, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, privatization
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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