If you think that in a country as rich as Canada no child lives in poverty, unfortunately you’d be wrong. Back in 1989, the House of Commons voted to end child poverty by 2000. Spoiler alert: they’re late. Campaign 2000 has been working for 30 years to achieve that goal,…
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This past week, public policy proposals were piling up fast and furious as each political party vies for the attention of voters rightly concerned about stalled wages and rising living costs—pledges that ranged from first-time home buyer incentives, to caps on cell phone fees, to the relaunch of the children’s…
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Duelling platform planks appear to be a theme in this election. My last blog looked at CMHC mortgage insurance changes endorsed by both the NDP and the Conservatives. Today’s analysis looks at the Liberals’ and Conservatives’ proposed versions of non-taxation of EI parental benefits. The Conservatives want to offer a…
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Canadians recently hit the streets in the middle of the federal election campaign to demand climate action. Many past Canadian governments have set emission targets, then failed to deliver meaningful policies to reach those targets, all the while patting themselves on the back for their leadership. The stakes are high,…
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Across the country, the lack of affordable housing is a top of mind concern for most Canadians in 2019. The run-up in housing prices in recent years has pushed home ownership out of reach for many. And, the combination of households staying longer in rental housing—and little new rental housing…
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The importance of maintaining and improving Canada’s health care system is widely acknowledged and supported. So too is the underlying vision of a universal Medicare system. Time and again, public opinion polls find that Canadians are proud of our health care system, but more work needs to be done to…
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The Liberal Party recently announced it would, if it forms the next federal government, introduce a nationwide 1% annual speculation tax on residential real estate owned by non-resident non-Canadians (the party’s backgrounder is available here). One of the policy’s stated goals is to cool off hot housing markets, especially in…
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The announcements are coming fast and furious now. The latest today from the Conservatives promised to “review” the mortgage stress test and lengthen amortization periods for mortgage loan insurance for first-time buyers. It seems that the NDP might also be in favour of 30-year amortizations, based on a statement from…
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In a vain attempt to keep pace with the avalanche of policy announcements, I’m wading into the NDP’s proposal of a wealth tax of 1% to be applied annually to all Canadians whose net worth exceeds $20 million. A wealth tax fundamentally differs from how most taxation in Canada presently…
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This weekend’s announcement of a plan for a “Universal Tax Cut” by the Conservative party signalled the first major tax discussion of Election 43. The basic premise of this plan is to reduce the rate in the lowest federal income tax bracket from 15% to 13.75% gradually over a three…
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