Alexandre Laurin – The Good, the Bad and the Bottom Line
To: The Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance From: Alexandre Laurin Date: March 25, 2019 Re: Federal Budget 2019: The Good, the Bad and the Bottom Line Even though Budget 2019 contains no sizeable flagship initiative, its orientation is clear: to appeal to as many as possible by multiplying targeted measures aimed mostly at seniors and millennials, while continuing […] Ottawa flings the big bucks in one direction while grabbing for loose change in the other – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Our federal fiscal masters are deeply inconsistent. They freely spend billions in revenue windfalls on one hand, but are obsessive about every nickel of tax they might fail to collect, no matter the cost to Canadians. The 2019 budget features yet another revenue bonanza of scattered handouts, many clearly contrived in haste.
That is bad. What is worse is how the government simultaneously tightens the screws, making tax compliance harder over amounts of money that are often derisory, and citing the integrity of the tax system in resisting reforms that could do Canadians much good.
Start with the big spending. The 2019 budget started from a fiscal baseline that, over the six-year projection period, was better than…
Don Ezra – Some welcome steps towards longevity insurance
To: The Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance From: Don Ezra Date: March 21, 2019 Re: Some welcome steps towards longevity insurance Thank you. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start in a good direction. Your proposed rules that would permit longevity insurance, known technically as “advanced life deferred annuities” were a welcome piece of this week’s budget. These […] Glen Hodgson – A Pre-Election Budget with Limited Economic Consequences
From: Glen Hodgson To: Concerned Canadians Date: March 20, 2019 Re: A Pre-Election Budget with Limited Economic Consequences Yesterday’s federal budget was branded with a theme, “Investing in the Middle Class,” that is fully consistent with this government’s stated priorities and therefore hardly surprising. This was most definitely a pre-election budget aimed at specific interests, issues and concerns […] Tax Policy Next to the Elephant: Business Tax Reform in the Wake of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
US tax changes should trigger broader reform in Canada according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Tax Policy Next to the Elephant: Business Tax Reform in the Wake of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” authors Kenneth McKenzie and Michael Smart argue US tax reform provides Canada an opportunity to […] Fortin, Sullivan – Earnings Inequality and the Gender Pay Gap in Canada
From: Nicole Fortin and Abby Sullivan To: Canadians concerned about pay equity Date: March 7, 2019 Re: Earnings Inequality and the Gender Pay Gap in Canada Over the past half-century, Canada has witnessed an impressive growth in women’s labour force participation and a substantial convergence in the proportion of men and women working. While one may assume that […] Randy V. Bauslaugh – End Discrimination against Non-Union Workplaces
From: Randy V. Bauslaugh To: Vic Fideli, Ontario Minister of Finance Date: February 26, 2019 Re: End Discrimination against Non-Union Workplaces How can Ontario avoid harm or expand and improve the predictability, security and sustainability of workplace pensions for Ontario workplaces? Simple – change target-benefit pension plan (TBP) funding rules that discriminate against non-union workplaces. […] William B.P. Robson and Farah Omran – Fiscal Transparency: How the Federal Government Can Get an A+
Federal budgets are an annual rite of spring, and this year’s will be tabled on March 19. The C.D. Howe Institute recently presented a series of Intelligence Memos with advice for the government, and today we reprise one memo that would be easily implemented. From: William B.P. Robson and Farah Omran To: The Honourable Bill […] Canada’s Youngest Generations Bear The Largest Tax Burden – Globe And Mail Op-ed
We already know that Canada’s population aging will drag down government revenue and blow up social and health spending, but its long-term impact on fiscal sustainability and intergenerational fairness greatly depend on future government policies. While this demographic change substantially shifts the tax burden away from baby boomers and their children − the baby busters or Generation X – to the boomers’ grandchildren, achieving long-term fiscal sustainability can be possible.
In my recent study for the C.D. Howe Institute, I estimate average lifetime tax burdens for the current generations by birth cohort, and for an unborn future generation. Lifetime tax burdens are simply the total amount of taxes minus cash…
Koeppl, Kronick – Three Questions About Open Banking
To: The Honourable Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance From: Thorsten Koeppl and Jeremy M. Kronick Date: February 19, 2019 Re: Three Questions About Open Banking The deadline for your department’s consultations on the merits and risks of “open banking” was last week. So, we ask: Who’s afraid of open banking? Consumers? Maybe. The big five banks? Probably. Regulators? Definitely. […] William B.P. Robson – Legislating Fiscal Accountability & Transparency – What Might Work?
To: Ontario MPPs From: William B.P. Robson Date: February 15, 2019 Re: Legislating fiscal accountability and transparency – what might work? The government of Ontario’s fiscal position is not healthy. Its financial statements for the 2017/18 fiscal year passed muster with the provincial Auditor General – a welcome change after two years of objections to the accounting. But the […] Ambler, Kronick – What to Make of Rising Consumer Insolvency
From: Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick To: Canadians Concerned About Household Debt Date: February 14, 2019 Re: What to Make of Rising Consumer Insolvency For much of the last decade, Canadians have been told their debt levels were unsustainable and that a day of reckoning was fast approaching. Data recently released by the Office of the Superintendent of […]