This summer, the federal government proposed a series of reforms to the Income Tax Act designed to close certain tax loopholes and address tax avoidance. Finance Canada says these changes would impact Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs) in three key areas: income “sprinkling” (a type of income splitting), passive investments made…
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While much of the conversation on Canada’s new Census income numbers focuses on the sustained nature of income inequality, little attention has been paid to what’s been happening to the richest 1% compared to the rest of us. This is the first time that a Canadian Census includes information about…
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New Census numbers released this week show that overall incomes have risen in the past ten years in Canada. This is excellent news. Economic growth driven by rising wages is growth we can feel, growth that translates into a better life. However, not all Canadians are having the same experience….
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It has been years since Statistics Canada has been able to release Census data on income inequality in Canada but the numbers are out at long last. Here are 7 things the Census teaches us about income inequality in Canada between 2005 and 2015. Resource boom masked inequality trends Thanks…
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Has gas price regulation in Atlantic Canada cost consumers $205 million in higher gas prices since provincial governments began regulating gas prices? This is the claim of a new study released by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), written by its president Marco Navarro-Génie. This new AIMS study, “What’s…
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The Trump administration’s long-running NAFTA drama took centre stage this week as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released its objectives for the impending renegotiation—and it looks more like a summer rerun than the transformative spectacle we were promised. In short, the U.S. is pushing for an updated NAFTA modelled on…
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In a particularly repugnant move, the Fraser Institute chose National Aboriginal Day (June 21) to release a report by Tom Flanagan claiming that a sharp increase in people with Registered Indian status will drive up government costs. The methodology employed by Flanagan is remarkably shoddy, as I explain below. I’m…
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We all want to feel good about what Canada stands for. From progress on LGBTQ rights, to communities coming together to support new immigrants, to modest steps toward reconciliation, there are reasons to be proud of how far we’ve come in 2017. But are we prepared to move beyond pride—to…
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The production and consumption of oil, gas and coal has been one of the primary drivers of global growth and development for more than a century. Unfortunately—and ironically—those same fuels are now the greatest threat to our future wellbeing and prosperity. Fossil fuels are the main source of human-made greenhouse…
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When federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled his 2017 federal budget in March, he pledged to make Canada’s tax system fairer. To his credit, he has closed several of the smaller tax credits in the past two budgets, but this hasn’t made a dent in how unequal the tax system…
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