Archive for the ‘Governance Policy Context’ Category
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Canada’s role in ‘snow washing’ money to evade taxes
In order to get hold of… Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) identification documents — you need to produce some evidence of apparent wrongdoing on the part of a target company to convince a magistrate to sign a disclosure order or warrant. But having gained access to a Canadian company’s records, you’ll often be faced with a total lack of UBO identifiers. Those UBO identifiers need to be made available: not only to frustrate tax evaders, fraudsters and money launderers, but potentially terrorists, who might use the anonymity associated with underregulated companies to fund their murderous activities.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, featured, globalization, jurisdiction, rights, standard of living, tax
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End this needless secrecy
It can take so long to get records through the FOI process that they become irrelevant. The system stymies the ability of the public, usually through the news media, to know what quasi-judicial bodies like the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission are doing in some of the most controversial areas of public policy.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, rights
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Bill Morneau pledges to spend — but first he has to cut
If the government plans to spend any money in this budget, it will have to be funded from new revenue sources — and there is likely to be a political cost to tapping those streams… Having ruled out taxing health and dental benefits, he may opt to eliminate the deduction on meals and entertainment that make corporate boxes feasible at hockey games, or kill the age amount tax credit claimed by people aged 65 and over.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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A real job for the democratic institutions minister
Don’t just make cash-for-access fundraisers more transparent; end them altogether… Beyond changing the rules… ensure that parliamentary watchdogs are better placed to enforce them… Fix our access-to-information laws – now… The danger of backtracking on electoral reform is that the government may have contributed to the malaise it purportedly sought to address.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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Out of the Shadows: Shining a light on Canada’s unequal distribution of federal tax expenditures
This study finds that Canada’s personal income tax expenditures disproportionately benefit the rich and cost the federal treasury nearly as much as it collects in personal income tax. The study examines the income distribution of benefit for the 64 personal income tax expenditures for which there is available data. Out of the 64 tax expenditures, 59 of them provide more benefit to the top 50% of income earners than the bottom half, with the largest share going to the richest 10%. The cost of those 59 expenditures totalled $100.5 billion in 2011 alone.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
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In scathing ruling, Federal Court says CSIS bulk data collection illegal
The Federal Court of Canada faulted Canada’s domestic spy agency Thursday for unlawfully amassing data, for misusing its surveillance warrants and for not being forthright with judges who authorize its intelligence programs. The court is also revealing that CSIS no longer needs warrants to collect Canadians’ tax records because of changes wrought by Bill C-51.
Tags: crime prevention, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
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Should the government rethink the way it deals with charities?
If we accept that there’s a place for charities, and support at least some limits on their political activities, where does that leave us? In short: in need of a complete overhaul of the sector. Rather than one set of rules applying to all charities (regardless of their size and purpose), we need targeted rules that apply differently to different organizations… In all cases, a clearer definition of “political activities” is required and partisan activities should remain strictly off limits.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, philanthropy, poverty, tax
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What Tax Avoidance Costs Us (For One, Pharmacare)
… here’s my list of the questions we need to be asking Canadians: Do you believe that Canadian corporations should pay the stated corporate tax rate — the second-lowest in the G7 — and be prevented from using tax havens to avoid paying their share? / Would you support clamping down on the use of tax havens and other loopholes, and using the billions gained as a result for public programs like pharmacare?
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
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Kathleen Wynne is this close to ending cash-for-access. Don’t stop now
… there are still two big problems with Bill 201. One is the inclusion of a taxpayer-funded subsidy of $2.71 per vote… Per-vote subsidies are pure cash grabs. Political parties can and do raise more than enough money directly from small donors… The other is the lack of any regulation to prevent parties from selling access to politicians… opposition parties… have proposed amendments that would explicitly ban the practice. Mr. Naqvi should consider them.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights, standard of living, tax
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Dastardly debt clock gets Liberally resurrected
During the federal Conservatives’ run they posted deficits every year until 2015, when they were emphatically asked to leave by the electorate. Yet they were fired not because of their spending habits but because perceptions of cronyism, hypocrisy and mismanagement… Yet Canada didn’t face an imminent collapse of its economy because of debt acquired by the Conservatives. Nor has that circumstance changed with the election of the Liberals… That’s because national wealth grew faster than debt was acquired.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
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