Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category
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Take pride that Parliament reflects the face of Canada
The 45 foreign-born MPs come from everywhere: 16 from Asia, 10 from Europe, eight from the Middle East, six from the Americas, five from Africa.Our Parliament is notably more aligned with its population than are the legislatures of other countries with high immigration rates… the 42nd Parliament is… one more significant, if incremental, step in a long move toward a national legislature that represents the identities, experiences and perspectives of all Canadians.
Tags: featured, ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
We need democratic reform, not just electoral reform
If the Liberal Party doesn’t just want to reform elections but democracy — and they’ve named a Minister for Democratic Institutions, so let’s assume they do — they need to focus on making democracy relevant for today’s world… Electoral reform is a good thing, but politics shouldn’t just be about one day and one win. It’s time to stop forcing people to stew in silence between elections and start opening up politics to continuous participation.
Tags: featured, globalization, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Provinces can’t blame Ottawa for red ink: Transfer payments have grown rapidly over past decade, Fraser Institute finds
… the Fraser Institute “finds that major federal transfers to the provinces and territories are currently higher on an inflation-adjusted per-capita basis than at any other point in Canadian history.” … [but] “In 2015-16, Ontarians will contribute approximately $6.7 billion to the Equalization program while receiving roughly $2.4 billion in return, representing a net contribution of $4.4 billion – the highest of any province in Canada,”
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Trudeau’s right on taxes
Tax laws allow lawyers, accountants, dentists, and other professionals to provide services to their employers through personal services corporations, rather than as employees… Professionals providing services through a personal services corporation are taxed at the lower small business rate on the first $500,000 of income. In Ontario, the combined federal and provincial rate is 11%, dropping to 9% by 2019, while mere individuals face a marginal tax rate of 46%.
Tags: featured, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
What ‘Bob from Calgary’ really meant when he posted his NYT comment
… a great many individuals… are happy to pay taxes in order to ensure an equitable and well-run society. It’s a simple reiteration of the 1904 quote by the American Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” A healthy capitalist system is founded on an understanding that both markets and governments can fail. Nuanced dialogue, analysis and engagement are critical to understanding what mix of government and free markets works to achieve the best outcomes.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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A tale of two Canadas
… it was an engagement of emotions and values transcending feelings from previous elections and transcending generations — providing the first hint that the divide between older Canada and Next Canada may not be as deep and wide as previously thought. Old and young Canada together, along with much of the previously Conservative-blue suburban and new Canadian vote, became an awakened progressive majority who declared they had simply had enough… Harper’s absolutist approach to government with the backing of not much more than one-third of ballots cast (and the support of only 24 per cent of all Canadian voters) was branded a debasement of democracy.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance History | No Comments »
‘Canada Is Back?’ Not Until Taxation Is Truly Fair Libs’ apparent willingness to chase corporate cheats only the first step.
The government’s apparent willingness to go after tax cheats — corporate and individual — is good news. But this is just one step in terms of achieving tax justice and fairness, and in recovering the over $60 billion a year lost through tax cuts… Now that we have a government that says it believes in governing, the question of comprehensive progressive tax reform needs to be front and centre.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why we must restore Parliament’s control of the public purse
… the government’s accounts are so convoluted that even the experts are baffled… It is well nigh impossible for mere mortals to follow money… We need to take advantage of the new government’s platform commitment to transparency. It has promised positive changes to information laws, the release of costing documents on new proposals, consistent budget documents and a stronger parliamentary budget office.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living, tax
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Deficits are a poor measure of Canada’s fiscal prudence
The federal net debt is currently $617-billion – an all-time high. But it is only 31 per cent of GDP, far below its post-1950s high of 67 per cent in 1996 (and even further below the 110 per cent attained in 1946, just after several years of wartime borrowing). it will be wise for the federal government to keep its debt-to-GDP ratio on a downward path… But lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio does not require balanced annual budgets.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Public Servants ‘blow the whistle’ on tax system shortfalls
“The picture that emerged was of an organization struggling to carry out its function in the face of government mismanagement. This includes major budget cuts, a poorly conceived restructuring effort, and targeting those who make tax filing mistakes rather than prioritizing big time tax cheats,”… politicians and lobbyists influence the agency’s operations, corporations successfully lobby to avoid prosecution, and there allegedly is political interference in audits to stop investigations.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
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