Posts Tagged ‘tax’
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Tory policy? Big Business isn’t feeling the love
… the government’s nine-year reign likely constitutes the most significant pro-business policy shift in Canada’s postwar history. More recently, however… the Conservatives have come into direct conflict with business. With a tough election looming, and the government’s actions increasingly dictated by political optics rather than any consistent economic ideology… The myriad of boutique tax cuts, micro-targeted to capture strategic little slices of the electorate, has been widely denounced in business circles.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa should broaden tax break for donations to charity
U.S. laws do more to encourage donating to charities by offering more generous tax breaks to people who give money away… In its spring budget the Conservative government should broaden the tax exemption on capital gains for charitable donations. It should give the same tax treatment to donations of private-company shares and real estate as is now given to gifts of publicly traded shares… That would likely result in additional donations to charities in the region of $200 million a year
Tags: budget, ideology, philanthropy, tax
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
The time is right for a carbon tax that works
The collapse of global oil prices has created a window of opportunity for Canadian governments… to tap into new fiscal revenue, while simultaneously adjusting prices for consumption of hydrocarbon-based fuels in order to reflect the environmental damage they cause… A provincial fuels carbon tax would also help to address concerns about revenue transfers or recycling between regions… There is no trade-off between strong environmental performance and a strong economy.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, tax
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
In Canada’s contest of ideas, the left is winning
Kathleen Wynne won the Ontario election on an aggressively left-wing budget/platform that not only increased spending, taxing and borrowing, but proposed the first major addition to the social safety net in decades: the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. Elsewhere there are serious proposals on the table for a national daycare plan, a national pharmacare plan, a surge in spending on urban transit and other infrastructure. The left is doing all the running on the environment, where it is no longer taboo to talk about carbon pricing…
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The year taxes made a comeback in Canada
… the costs of decades of tax cuts and austerity are piling up and there’s a growing chorus arguing that reversing course on taxes is key to our future well-being… We have not looked at our tax system in a comprehensive way since the influential Carter Commission 50 years ago. It seems increasingly clear that we will not meet our current challenges or even understand our choices if we don’t rethink why and how we pay taxes… Sooner or later the consequences of austerity will make a turnaround inevitable. The longer we wait, the higher the costs.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
How partisan Conservative ads undermine the rule of law
Governments are allowed to advertise about services and programs that they are implementing, but when some of them are either untruthful, promote partisan positions or are not even authorised by Parliament, it becomes a vehicle to undermine the foundations of any democracy that values the spirit and letter of the rule of law… Mr. Harper has found a way for his government to flood the media with partisan propaganda to the tune of hundreds of millions of our dollars.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Tory government using publicity agency to create, distribute news
The Conservative government has been using a publicity agency to create and distribute government-approved news items to community newspapers, television and radio stations… The articles must be credited to News Canada, but there is usually nothing in the so-called news articles or television and radio scripts that would explicitly let readers or viewers know it is sponsored content.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why one of Canada’s big banks is calling for greater income equality
In a recent report, economists at TD Bank laid out “The Case for Leaning Against Income Inequality,” pointing out the dangers of the widening divide, and giving some strong suggestions on how to turn the tide… This widely held appetite for redistribution is particularly interesting, given that it’s been a dirty word for many years, abandoned by parties of all ideological leanings.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Gap between rich and poor greater than most Canadians think Poll finds
The richest segment of Canada’s population controls close to 70 per cent of the country’s wealth. Its very poorest segment has no share at all… “There’s a huge discrepancy between the kind of Canada that people want and the kind of Canada that actually exists.” The research showed a strong appetite for government intervention to alleviate income inequality, with over 85 per cent of the country agreeing that the wealth gap was a problem.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, privatization, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Ontario to get $1.3 billion extra in federal transfer payments
Ontario is getting $1.25 billion in extra cash from Ottawa next year, a boost which helps take the sting out of the $640 million in transfer payments the province says it was deprived of in 2014… Canada’s most populous province will get $20.4 billion from Ottawa for health, social services and equalization payments in 2015, up from $19.2 billion in the past year… $13 billion for health in Ontario, up $735 million; and almost $5 billion for social programs, up $143 million
Tags: budget, economy, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
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