Posts Tagged ‘tax’

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Raising taxes to build Toronto is not just good — it’s necessary

Tuesday, December 10th, 2019

In recent years, our leaders have tried every trick in the book… to avoid collecting the revenues needed to build the country. They’ve sold off profit-making public assets, giving up long-term revenue streams for one-time capital gains. They’ve embraced public-private partnerships (P3s), paying extra to build infrastructure but hiding the cost off the public books. They’ve taken on more debt.

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The mathematical truth about Toronto property taxes: raising them is the best option

Tuesday, December 10th, 2019

The average annual residential tax bill across the GTHA and Ottawa for 2018 came in at $4,773 per household. In Toronto, it was $3,906… The mathematical truth says Toronto’s residential property taxes are low. The mathematical truth says there is room to raise them to pay for the things the city desperately needs.

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Myth Busting: Drug Spending, Prices and Pharmacare

Friday, December 6th, 2019

There are many individuals who lack sufficient coverage for prescription medications… But to address those gaps, it is important to understand the real challenges to achieving the goal: the fiscal pressure of high-cost treatments for relatively few beneficiaries and a lack of coverage for a minority of Canadians.

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Reforming the Child Care Expense Deduction

Thursday, December 5th, 2019

… a substantial proportion of lower- and middle-income Canadian families are not able to fully deduct their childcare expenses… The problem is greater in Ontario, in relation to the province’s new childcare tax credit… For the CARE credit alone, raising the claim limit from two-thirds to 100 percent of the lower-income parent’s earnings would benefit about six in 10 two-parent families earning less than $50,000.

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A tricky operation: Finding a place for private health insurance in a public system

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019

Every health insurance program in the developed world, public and private, is struggling with a daunting triple challenge: An aging population, the soaring cost of new technologies and rising consumer expectations… private sector efficiency is a myth. Private hospitals keep patients longer, order more tests, prescribe more drugs and provide a lot of low-value or no-value care. They overtreat and overcharge… private hospitals are not going to solve the woes of Canadian medicare

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Posted in Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »


Do tax policies that contribute to competitiveness also create inequality?

Sunday, December 1st, 2019

Tax levels are rarely the first consideration for investors, unless the “investment” is a tax dodge… regulations matter, proximity to markets matter; and so do… a healthy and well-educated work force, well-maintained infrastructure, reliable energy, transportation and communications systems, and a robust justice system backed by widely trusted social institutions.

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Here’s why you should like the federal carbon tax

Wednesday, November 27th, 2019

An escalating carbon price, on the other hand, would allow GDP per capita to grow steadily so long as the proceeds of the carbon tax are redistributed to taxpayers, as the current plan foresees… By… 2030 and the emissions reductions are in the bag, Canadians would each be $3,300-a-year richer under carbon pricing than under the large-emitter-only scenario.

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Ontario’s healthcare spending lowest in Canada — but going lower

Thursday, November 21st, 2019

These cuts, totalling about $360 million, will affect everything from mental health care to cancer screening, according to Natalie Mehra, head of the Ontario Health Coalition… Their impact will likely be profound, since… Ontario’s health-care spending is only $3,903 per person — the lowest of the ten provinces — and $487 per person lower than the Canadian average…

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Hospital Beds and Long-Term Care Wait Lists

Friday, November 15th, 2019

Under current rules, hospitals may charge patients copayments for their room and board only if they require complex continuing care and are “more or less permanently resident” in hospital or waiting for an LTC bed. But they may not do so if the patient is awaiting discharge to home or community care. This creates a perverse incentive for hospitals to recommend LTC in order to get copayments, leading to longer waiting lists.

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We need to talk about this in Ontario. But we probably won’t

Friday, November 15th, 2019

“Because my wife has French-language rights, and because we’re Catholic, I get to choose between four different schools to send my kids to. The other 70 per cent of Ontarians don’t get that choice… They can only go to an English public school. How is that fair for anyone?” … Parents are struggling with all manner of cuts and shortcomings to their children’s education… a lot of people will tell you it’s because we have multiple boards.

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