It’s no secret that there is probably no bigger booster of the oil industry than the Saskatchewan government. Former Premier Brad Wall took any and every opportunity to champion the industry while publicly opposing virtually any policy—higher royalties, increased regulation, carbon pricing—that might threaten the industry’s profitability. Mr. Wall was…
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On April 10, the Saskatchewan government tabled its 2018-19 budget. Here are 10 things to know: This year’s budget was quite status quo. Provincial expenses for the upcoming fiscal year are forecast at $14.6 billion, while total spending on health will see a 2.5% increase. Revenue forecast for 2018-19 is…
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Who deserves a Just Transition to a cleaner economy? Coal miners, of course! Maybe steel workers, too, and truck drivers? Actually, all working people — and their families — probably need some support. So do the public services they depend on. Perhaps the whole economy needs a Just Transition. But wait, I thought this…
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A month ago, PC Leader Doug Ford floated a trial balloon: he would freeze Ontario’s minimum wage at $14 but take everyone making less than $30,000 a year off of the income tax rolls. At that time, I checked the math and concluded that a $15 minimum wage would leave…
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Back in March, the Ontario Liberals put all of their chips on the table with their election-style provincial budget. They promised free child care, more support for dental care and drugs, and a reinvestment in health care—bankrolling it by deficit spending for the next six years. That left the opposition…
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The build started with a single West Coast cedar tree. In the early hours of March 10, against the backdrop of forest-covered Burnaby Mountain on the shores of B.C.’s Burrard Inlet, volunteers carried in wood planks and cement corner stones and set to work. Within hours, they had constructed a…
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A federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) framework agreement on housing was signed on April 10 in Toronto. It supports the Trudeau government’s National Housing Strategy, which was released last fall. Here are 10 things to know about the just-signed agreement: Though a National Housing Strategy (NHS) was released last fall, a federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) framework agreement…
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For those that feared that the Saskatchewan government would continue the punishing austerity they laid out in 2017, this year’s budget came as a mild relief. While the 2018 budget doesn’t restore the cuts made last year, the government appears to have opted for holding the line – offering no…
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