The current government’s economic policies, being rolled out in a series of omnibus bills and ‘administrative changes,’ come at a high price to women. These policies do not create jobs in industries where women work; these policies increase the tax burden on working women while decreasing their access to pension…
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Some present the new PQ government’s first budget as a necessary first step before truly plunging into more liberal measures. In fact, it was out of obligation, they say, that the new Finance Minister, Nicolas Marceau, presented a budget so unexciting, in keeping with its PLQ predecessors. And yet, one…
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Doha, Qatar — The 18th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now underway in Doha, Qatar. This year’s president is His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiya, chair of Qatar’s Administrative Control and Transparency Authority. Al-Attiya said the conference is “a turning…
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Mark Carney’s tenure as Governor of the Bank of Canada overlaps some challenging economy history. Appointed in early 2008 just as the US housing bubble was popping, Carney took the helm in time for a financial crisis that brought the global economy to its knees. We are still living that…
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Interest in Canadian “Social impact Bonds” has spiked following HRSDC Minster Finley announcement that the federal government is investigating them for use in Canada. I’ve already commented on the story in The Toronto Star and on The Current (min 16) but I wanted to write my thoughts up in a…
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Negotiations concerning the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) are well underway. Many major issues for Québec’s future are being discussed, notably the conditions under which European businesses will be allowed to tender for supplier, service, and construction contracts from the Québec state. According to a meeting held on…
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A new report came out from the Fraser Institute today looking at income mobility. It certainly doesn’t intend to make this conclusion, but a thorough look at their data shows that the rich stay rich as everyone else fights for entrance to this exclusive club. Plenty has already been written…
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(Apologies if others have commented on this previously.) The 2011 Tax Expenditures report by the federal Department of Finance includes an analysis of the progressivity of the federal personal income tax system. What I find striking is just how weak the federal personal income tax is as a tool for…
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The traditional model of quality assurance, where professors and institutional bodies evaluate, approve and improve programs, has always existed in Ontario. However, the centralization and standardization of quality assurance has been accelerated by university and college administrators and encouraged by Ministry staff. External pressures for standardization from the OECD and…
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The federal government released its annual fall update on the country’s finances today. Despite the upbeat messaging around the “Update of Economic and Fiscal Projections” there are concerning underlying trends with the country and its finances. For regular Canadians, there is no explosive growth expected in the job market to…
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