Archive for the ‘Governance Policy Context’ Category
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The Plot Against France
… fiscal scolds don’t really care about deficits. Instead, they’re using debt fears to advance an ideological agenda… it’s hard to see why France deserves any particular opprobrium… Why? Because it [plans] tax increases rather than spending cuts… In other words, never mind… about fiscal discipline, you’re supposed to be dismantling the safety net… France has committed the unforgivable sin of being fiscally responsible without inflicting pain on the poor and unlucky. And it must be punished.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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2013 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review
… should global economic conditions falter, causing revenue growth to fall further, our priority is clear — this government will continue to protect investments in jobs and families ahead of short-term targets… Ontario has the lowest per-capita program spending in Canada… investing in our transit, roads, bridges, schools and hospitals improves our province’s competitiveness and enhances our quality of life… We cannot cut our way to prosperity. Nor can we tax our way to growth.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, pensions, standard of living, tax
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Equalization payments make for unequal services: study
… “instead of providing ‘reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation,’ as the Constitution sets out, equalization results in ‘have-not’ provinces buying more expensive government goodies than the spending-responsible ‘have’ provinces.” “More professors, more doctors, more nurses, lower tuition fees and smaller class sizes can all be enjoyed in the provinces which do not have to pay for these services by themselves.”
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
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Clawback of Ottawa training fund draws fire
Provinces are furious with the plan to slash the Labour Market Agreement by more than half. They use the money to help people not eligible for Employment Insurance – especially older workers, aboriginals, youth and the disabled – enter the workforce through programs such as literacy training… Ottawa is creating a program in an area of provincial jurisdiction and asking provinces to pay two-thirds of the cost without even consulting them.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, participation
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When should Ottawa play infrastructure tooth fairy?
The benefits of transportation infrastructure extend beyond those who use it – and directly pay for it with fares – and spread throughout an urban region as a whole… In general, governments should pay for projects that have the largest return to society as a whole, but are not sustainable on user fees alone.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, tax
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Harper helped push world toward austerity
That embrace of austerity has led to deep government spending cuts, with devastating consequences, particularly in some southern European nations. Canadians have suffered, too… 1.4 million Canadians remain unemployed… the fixation on deficits, which has dominated public discourse for much of the last 30 years, has helped divert attention from the fact that austerity is part of a larger agenda (including tax cuts and privatization) that’s redistributed money toward the top.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Hidden price of tax benefits
The C.D. Howe Institute, financed primarily by business, has concluded after a thorough analysis of the tax system that Ottawa should switch back to investing in social programs… the combination of higher taxes and forgone benefits created such a strong deterrent to work that it urged the government to go no further before conducting a review of the tax and benefit system… Treading Water: The Impact of High Marginal Effective Tax Rates on Working Families in Canada… found they were penalized for extra effort.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living, tax
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A better system of First Nations self-governance
Without the willingness to live by one’s own rules, there can be no self-government, and self-government can only be learned in its practice. Canada’s aboriginals are fully capable of running efficient and accountable governments. Most First Nations have already opted for custom systems to rule their communities. Modest improvements to those councils will mean a better, more independent life for Canada’s aboriginals.
Tags: Indigenous, jurisdiction, rights
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Canada has lost its census anchor
The NHS has released data for just 75.3 per cent of the Canada-wide 4,567 census subdivisions, compared to the 2006 long-form census rate of 96.6 per cent… A census used to be done every five years to ensure that the anchor provided appropriate, up-to-date information in order to adjust data from other surveys. We are now in a funny upside-down world: We’re using the old census data to fix the survey results when the objective was to find a new anchor to fix survey results because the old anchor was out of date.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Research council’s makeover leaves Canadian industry setting the agenda
“Our businesses are not doing the research that they need to do… So something had to be done.” The move is in keeping with the Conservative government’s emphasis on a business model for public policy, such as tying foreign aid to economic development. It is also another significant foray into the science file, with critics saying the new approach is shortsighted and may shut the door on vast areas of promising fundamental research.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, privatization
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