David Dodge on BNN: Canada’s infrastructure is falling behind, hurting productivity
David Dodge, Chair of the Institute’s National Council and former Governon of the Bank of Canada, discusses the quality of Canada’s infrastructure and its impact to the economy’s productivity levels
Jonathan Hall – HOT lanes can help everyone
From: Jonathan Hall To: The Hon. Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation Date: September 15, 2016 Re: HOT lanes can help everyone This week’s opening of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the QEW is a welcome first step towards fighting congestion in the GTA. However, we could do better. The province should quickly move […]Donald Dewees – Don’t Rush to Electric Avenue
From: Donald N. Dewees To: Minister Glen Murray CC: Premier Kathleen Wynne Date: June 7, 2016 Re: Don’t Rush to Electric Avenue Recent press reports suggest that the Province of Ontario is considering a plan to greatly increase the sales of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in Ontario, with a goal of having 1.7 million of […] David Dodge – Infrastructure Spending: Plan Now Needed
From: David Dodge To: The Minister of Finance Date: May 24, 2016 Re: Infrastructure Spending: Plan Now Needed In Budget 2016, you expressed your intent to invest more than $120 billion in infrastructure over 10 years. Phase 1, totaling $11.9 billion, spreads spending over a wide range of objectives primarily in the next two years. Phase […]Better Roads To Affordable Housing Than Ontario’s Inclusionary Zoning: Globe And Mail Op-ed
The Ontario government announced recently that it will give cities the power to require home builders to set aside housing in new developments for low-income families. Municipal politicians might like the plan, but it will be costly for home buyers and is not the most effective way to give low-income families good housing.
The province’s plan is called inclusionary zoning. Inclusionary zoning is about changing the way social housing is built in our cities. Currently, the City of Toronto owns 62 per cent of government-subsidized housing. Inclusionary zoning would put more of the burden of building low-income housing on private developers instead.
Why do governments support such a change?
First,…
Tapping the Land: Tax Increment Financing of Infrastructure
Cities across Canada should consider new and innovative approaches to financing their share of infrastructure spending, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Tapping the Land: Tax Increment Financing of Infrastructure,” author Adam Found shows how cities could use tax increment financing (TIF) to finance infrastructure ranging from sports arenas to public transit. Getting More Buildings for our Bucks: Canadian Infrastructure Policy in 2016
Canadian governments need to spend wisely in order to maximize their infrastructure dollars, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Getting More Buildings for our Bucks: Canadian Infrastructure Policy in 2016,” author Benjamin Dachis provides Canada’s federal, provincial and municipal governments with a blueprint for sound infrastructure investment. Bill Robson on the Exchange: Should Taxpayers be bailing out Bombardier?
Institute President and CEO, Bill Robson, joins his Big Picture co-panelists, Goldy Hyder and Armine Yalnizyan, to discuss the Canadian aerospace company’s woes and whether public money should fund a private enterprise.
Bill Robson on the Exchange: Canada’s Pipeline Future
Bill Robson, joins his Big Picture co-panelists, ArmineYalnizyan and Goldy Hyder to talk about Canada’s pipeline future now that Keystone XL has been rejected by the U.S. and there is a new federal government in Canada.
Manitoba sets the bar on recycling: Winnipeg Free Press Op-Ed
By Daniel Schwanen and Aaron Jacobs
Visitors to Manitoba, in the heart of Canada, are lucky to experience the province’s unique and intimate blend of nature and industry, culture and industry, learning and relaxation. And they will also, quite uniquely, encounter frequent, large and colourful advertisement alongside roads, urging consumers to recycle their beverage containers. They are everywhere.
Manitoba used to be a noticeable laggard in the collection rate for these containers. No more. Progress in the past five years alone has been swift, pulling rates within close reach of those in other provinces. There is every reason to believe that this upward swing will continue.
While the advertising no doubt helps…
Why tolling carpool lanes is the right move for Ontario: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
By Benjamin Dachis
Love ’em or hate ’em, carpool lanes on Toronto highways look here to stay – having gained the endorsement of the Premier of Ontario. Tolling these carpool lanes is the way to go.
The Pan Am Games set the stage. The province installed 235 kilometres of temporary carpool lanes across the Greater Toronto Area. The province required that vehicles have three occupants to access them during July. For most of August, vehicles must have two occupants to access the lanes.
The Pan Am lanes were always billed as temporary. But the province has had long-standing plans to build carpool lanes across the region. The province has permanent carpool lanes on highways in Mississauga, Halton Region and north Toronto…
Benjamin Dachis: The costs of congestion: National Post Op-Ed
Published in The National Post on March 11, 2015
By: Benjamin Dachis
Benjamin Dachis is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute.
The following is an excerpt from a C.D. Howe Institute report entitled “Tackling Traffic: The Economic Cost of Congestion in Metro Vancouver.”
Voters in Metro Vancouver will soon decide whether to approve a transportation and transit plan financed with a region-wide 0.5 percentage point increase in the provincial sales tax. In an upcoming plebiscite, voters across the 21 municipalities in Metro Vancouver … must consider how to deal with the bane of most metropolitan areas — growing congestion. They will need to weigh whether the economic costs of…