This week, the Ontario government released its five-year Climate Change Action Plan, which includes 28 initiatives designed to gradually electrify the transportation system, improve building efficiency, and ultimately reduce Ontario’s emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan has been met with praise from think tanks, environmental groups and news organizations who…
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We’ve consistently argued that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will bring high social and environmental costs and few economic benefits to Canada. The deal privileges multinational corporations and foreign investors while failing to protect the public interest and promote inclusive economic growth here at home. A new report from the C.D. Howe…
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In their election platform, the Liberals committed to leaving behind a country “even more beautiful, more sustainable, and more prosperous than the one we have now.” But does Budget 2016 deliver on the Liberals’ promises to fight climate change and protect the environment? And does it approach the level of…
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Even the loudest advocates of the Trans-Pacific Partnership concede that the macroeconomic benefits for Canada will be small, as we have written before. Canada’s former trade minister promised a $3.5 billion boost to the Canadian economy—a fraction of a percent—if the massive trade treaty goes ahead. The most optimistic forecasts, including…
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With today’s announcement of a completed Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, it’s likely the news will focus on potential economic impacts in sectors like dairy and auto. These are certainly important questions, but so are the details buried in the TPP’s more than 30 chapters, including one on investment protection. For example,…
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Conservative Trade Minister Ed Fast flies to Atlanta this week to continue talks on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), one of the largest and most important free trade agreements ever negotiated. A deal is no foregone conclusion—negotiators have already missed several deadlines—but expectations are high that this week’s meetings in…
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There’s already a ton of good analysis around the 2015 Federal Budget. Critics’ consensus? This budget is short-sighted, misleading and full of vote-buying measures that do little to address Canada’s real challenges. The policies and measures contained in the budget say a lot about the current government’s priorities—budgets always do….
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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post included a graph that inadvertently made use of misleading historical stock market data. It has since been corrected and the author apologies for the error. Statistics Canada surprised a lot of observers last week when it declared that income inequality in Canada…
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Job creation is high on the oil industry’s list of go-to arguments for increased investment in the oil sands. Energy extraction is a key driver of employment growth, they tell us, and the benefits extend well beyond Alberta. “Almost every community in Canada has been touched by oil sands development…
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