Jim MacGee – Limit the Buildup of Risk, not Competition, in Mortgage Lending

From: Jim MacGee To: Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance Date: November 10, 2017 Re: Limit the Buildup of Risk, not Competition, in Mortgage Lending Last month saw another move to limit the buildup of risk in housing markets, with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions updating guideline B-20 on residential mortgage underwriting practices and procedures. A key […]

Addy, Manji-Knight – Revised Immunity Program May Not Be Your Best Weapon

From: George N. Addy and Alysha Manji-Knight To: The Competition Bureau of Canada Date: November 09, 2017 Re: Revised Immunity Program May Not Be Your Best Weapon Last month the Competition Bureau released for public consultation a revised version of its immunity program, its self-described ‘best weapon’ to provide incentives to businesses and individuals to report criminal anticompetitive […]

Dachis, Fanaki – Improving Merger Reviews in Canada

From: Benjamin Dachis and Adam Fanaki To: Competition Policy makers Date: November 2, 2017 Re: Improving Merger Reviews in Canada The C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council met this month to discuss the state of competition policy in Canada. The Competition Act provides for reviews of mergers by the Commissioner of Competition, the head of the Competition Bureau, to […]

Mergers and Inquisitions? Competition Bureau’s Merger Review Needs Improvement

Report of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council

The Competition Bureau and the government should work to introduce measures to improve the efficiency, consistency, and predictability of the Canadian merger review process, according to the consensus of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its fourteenth meeting on October 17, 2017. The Competition Act provides for reviews of mergers by the Commissioner of Competition, who heads the Competition Bureau, to determine whether such transactions are likely to prevent or lessen competition substantially. The Bureau’s merger review process is taking longer, although part of the delay may be due to matters outside of the Bureau’s…

Rosalie Wyonch – To Tax Or Not To Tax, That’s Not The Question

From: Rosalie Wyonch To: Ministers of Finance Date: October 24, 2017 Re: To Tax or Not to Tax, That’s Not the Question Recently, there has been much ado about Netflix: whether it should be regulated or taxed and whether it is destroying Canadian content production or it is a new global platform that will export Canadian content to the […]

Canada needs to follow Quebec lead on taxing Netflix – Toronto Star Op-Ed

Recently, there has been much ado about Netflix: whether it should be regulated or taxed and whether it is destroying Canadian content production or it is a new global platform that will export Canadian content to the world. The federal government recently touted an agreement with the company for a $500 million investment in Canadian content over five years alongside a “first ever” strategy for the Canadian creative economy.

The Quebec legislature swiftly and unanimously voted for a motion to “ensure the Quebec sales tax is imposed on all foreign companies that offer products and services online, notably in the cultural sector, as soon as possible.” However, Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said the province won’t take any…

D. Daniel Sokol – Big Data and Canadian Competition Policy

From: D. Daniel Sokol To: John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition Re: Big Data and Canadian Competition Policy Date: October. 10, 2017 The Canadian Competition Bureau recently released its draft discussion paper on Big Data. The Bureau strikes the right tone in noting that there are both potential benefits and potential drawbacks to Big Data from a […]

Andy Charles – Housing Prices in the GTA and Mortgage Lending

From: Andy Charles To: Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance Date: September 15, 2017 Re: Housing Prices in the GTA and Mortgage Lending The trajectory of home price increases in the GTA has been an obsession over the past 18 months. Everybody has a theory.  What or who is responsible for driving prices upwards? Foreign buyers? […]

Rosalie Wyonch – Let’s Untangle Work Integrated Learning

To: The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour From: Rosalie Wyonch Date: September 12, 2017 Re: Let’s Untangle Work Integrated Learning The Government of Canada is rolling out a $73-million investment in the Student Work-Integrated Learning Program to create 10,000 paid student work placements over the next four years and “help bridge the gap” between […]

J. Rhys Kesselman – Broader Policies Needed To Restore Housing Affordability

From: J. Rhys Kesselman To: Premiers of British Columbia and Ontario Date: September 11, 2017 Re: Broader Policies Needed To Restore Housing Affordability The major metropolitan areas of your province are suffering extreme unaffordability of housing. The policy measures taken to date have slowed rapid price appreciation—but prices remain far out of line with median […]

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