Bill Robson on The Exchange: Canada’s Climate Change Initiative
Institute President and CEO, Bill Robson, joins his Big Picture co-panelists, ArmineYalnizyan and Goldy Hyder to talk about Canada’s climate change initiative.
The Effect of First Nations Modern Treaties on Local Income
Modern treaties have boosted incomes in First Nation communities and have led to more resource development, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Report. In “The Effect of First Nations Modern Treaties on Local Income,” author Fernando M. Aragón shows that, beyond bettering First Nations economically, there are material benefits for resource companies and neighbouring […] First Nations Own-Source Revenue: How Is the Money Spent?
Revenues from First Nations business activities have grown substantially over the last generation. In Ontario, they now comprise nearly one third of First Nation government funds. Where does the money go? A new C.D. Howe Institute report, “First Nations Own-Source Revenue: How Is the Money Spent?” makes use of new data to analyze band finances. A better way for Alberta to collect royalties: Calgary Herald Op-Ed
By Robin Boadway and Benjamin Dachis
Alberta’s much-anticipated royalty review panel has begun drilling down with expert and public consultations. It can find common ground by proposing that the province adopt a best-in-class cash-flow tax for all energy resources in the province.
The status quo needs changing. The province holds auctions in which companies purchase the rights to extract provincially owned oilsands, natural gas or conventional oil. Companies that buy conventional oil or natural gas deposits then pay the government a tax based on the amount they produce. These taxes are called gross-revenue royalties, because companies pay the province a share of their gross production revenues.
The royalty…
Drilling Down on Royalties: How Canadian Provinces Can Improve Non-Renewable Resource Taxes
The key problem with current resource taxes in Canada is not the tax rates, but the design of the taxes, states a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Drilling Down on Royalties: How Canadian Provinces Can Improve Non-Renewable Resource Taxes,” authors Robin Boadway and Benjamin Dachis suggest that a better design for many […] Why Carbon Pricing Will Help To Secure Alberta’s Economic Future: Globe And Mail Op-ed
By Christopher Ragan
As Alberta’s new government assembles its troops and redesigns its policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the need for greater environmental protection will be an obvious rallying cry. But Premier Rachel Notley should also be sure to make the case that pricing carbon emissions is very much in Alberta’s economic interests.
Many will wonder whether that last sentence is a mistake. How can attaching a financial penalty to carbon emissions be in the economic interests of a province so rooted in the production of fossil fuels? There are two reasons, each regarding a different kind of “market access.”
Alberta produces far more oil and natural gas than it can use at home, so getting these…
Smooth transition needed for carbon pricing and free trade: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
By Christopher Ragan
Even if we weren’t in the middle of a federal election campaign, there would be several important policy issues being discussed this summer. One of the big ones is Canada’s part in the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement with several Pacific Rim countries. Another is the development of carbon-pricing policies in Ontario and Alberta. Policy makers and ordinary Canadians alike should note that these policies have two big things in common, and one crucial difference.
Both free trade and carbon pricing are undertaken in the pursuit of a major, long-run prize. In the case of free trade, the prize is that our consumers get access to a wider range of products, often with…
Deep-6 the High-5 Ontario electricity program: Financial Post Op-Ed
Published in the Financial Post on July 24, 2015
Benjamin Dachis is a Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute. Anindya Sen is the author of the C.D. Howe Institute study Peak Power Problems: How Ontario’s Industrial Electricity Pricing System Impacts Consumers.
The cost to an industrial business of consuming electricity during a single High-5 hour is $52,000 per MWh
A clumsy Ontario government program threatens Ontario’s industrial businesses with inordinately high electricity costs this month. The result is that businesses either shut down production or go off-the-grid to save money. But there is a better way.
July is historically the hottest month of the year in Ontario, giving July…
How To Avoid The Curse Of Alberta’s Boom-bust Fiscal Cycle: Globe And Mail Op-ed
Published in the Globe and Mail on March 24, 2015
By: Christopher Ragan
Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal and a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto.
Born and raised in Edmonton, and living only “temporarily” in Montreal for the past 25 years, I still miss many things about my home province. But I don’t miss Alberta’s boom-bust economy and how this dynamic has permeated the provincial government’s fiscal structure.
Alberta’s Premier, Jim Prentice, has said that the budget on March 26 will include a 10-year plan for provincial finances. This is very promising. Mr. Prentice is a smart man and a talented politician – yet even his…
Wynne’s Hydro One Plan A Good Start, But Must Go Further: Globe And Mail Op-ed
Published in The Globe and Mail on March 10, 2015
By: Benjamin Dachis
Benjamin Dachis is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute.
The Globe and Mail reported Tuesday that the government of Ontario is contemplating selling a piece of Hydro One, the province’s wholly owned electricity transmission and distribution company, jolting Queen’s Park and markets. The province is on the right track in looking to privatize its electricity utilities; it could make taxpayers even better off by letting private investors take the lead in creating a private distribution or transmission system.
Hydro One has two main business units. The largest, by value of assets, is its transmission…
Dachis: Notley should be wary of raising royalties: Calgary Herald Op-Ed
Published in the Calgary Herald on May 30, 2015
By Benjamin Dachis
Benjamin Dachis is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute.
Alberta’s new premier has promised a review of the province’s royalty system. However, her government should take a close look at the consequences the last time an Alberta government increased royalty rates. Raising royalty rates then did more harm than good.
Until the mid-2000s, the province relied mostly on royalties from natural gas. Now, most royalties come from oilsands bitumen and conventional oil.
The province applies a royalty for bitumen in which the province gets a large share during boom times, but low royalties when companies are not profitable…
Improved carbon pricing could make socially-conscious investing easier: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Published in the Globe and Mail on May 19, 2015
By Christopher Ragan
Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal and a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto.
Interest in “socially responsible” investing is growing quickly, and it’s often driven by concerns over climate change. The movement to divest from fossil-fuel companies is sweeping university campuses, foundations and institutional investors, with the latest high-profile announcement coming from a leading British newspaper. The calculus needed to drive such investment decisions is difficult – but it would be simplified considerably if carbon pricing were as common as income taxes.…