The recent controversy sparked by Ontario’s announcement that it will expand the use of private surgery and diagnostic-imaging clinics has missed the point. Health care in Ontario is already much more “private” than most people know, and the province has never had a universal system that is publicly funded and publicly delivered in a truly comprehensive manner. Myths about how our health care system does (or does not) work are unhelpful when attempting to address the very real challenges that result in long delays for surgeries and doctor’s appointments.
A major point of contention is the spending of public money on procedures completed at “for-profit” clinics, which is usually a criticism levied at the province for…
J'ai beaucoup d’admiration pour la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), où je suis passé, comme beaucoup. Pourtant, même si elle est le gestionnaire idéal de notre rente, ce serait une fausse bonne idée de lui confier nos régimes enregistrés d’épargne-retraite (REER).
Michel Girard, chroniqueur au Journal de Montréal, propose de permettre aux Québécois « d’investir directement une portion de leurs épargnes dans un fonds commun de placement basé sur le gigantesque portefeuille diversifié de la Caisse. »1 La distribution serait confiée à Épargne Placements Québec.
Malheureusement, il serait difficile de « cloner » le rendement de la CDPQ, car plus du tiers de ses actifs est…
The Bank of Canada’s millions in balance-sheet losses are only the beginning – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
While the full effects of the Bank of Canada’s rate hikes are not yet known, there is an immediate effect on the central bank’s own finances: growing interest expenses and large financial losses. The bank’s recently released third-quarter financial results showed that for the first time, the bank incurred a net loss: $511-million. This is only the beginning.
This matters, especially at a time of heightened political attention toward monetary-policy issues.
The bank’s revenue is largely derived from its asset holdings, which mainly included Government of Canada bonds and treasury bills. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these bond holdings cost the bank very little, and their returns normally exceeded bank expenses…
