William Robson on Taking Stock with Amanda Lang
Working Harder for Less: More People but Less Capital Is No Recipe for Prosperity
Business investment in Canada has been so weak since 2015 that capital per worker has been falling – part of an ominous pattern of stagnating productivity and living standards. A longstanding gap between investment per available worker in Canada compared to the United States and other OECD countries narrowed from the late 1990s through […] Falling Fast: Canada’s Dangerous Slide in Business Investment
November 7 – Weak business investment in Canada poses a profound threat to Canadian living standards and competitiveness, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “…Pharmacare Back on The Radar Canada’s Need for Federal Provincial Cooperation October 26th, 2023
Grant Sprague – The Supreme Court Was Clear: Governments Need to Align on Green Agenda
From: Grant Sprague To: Canada’s governments Date: November 6, 2023 Re: The Supreme Court Was Clear: Governments Need to Align on Green Agenda Four years ago, the federal government enacted the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), also known as Bill C-69. The reception was not good. In some circles, the legislation became known as the “no-more […] Verbatim: National Pharmacare – Time to Get on With It
A presentation to “Pharmacare Back on The Radar: Canada’s Need for Federal-Provincial Cooperation,” a C.D. Howe Institute webinar held on October 26, 2023. Marcel Saulnier is a health policy consultant, Associate with Santis Health and a former Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Policy Branch at Health Canada. He was also Executive Director responsible […] How to Get National Pharmacare Back on Track
National pharmacare for Canada needs to get back on track, according to a former Health Canada official speaking at a recent C.D. Howe Institute event. In “National Pharmacare – Time to Get on With It,” Marcel Saulnier examines progress on implementing improved coverage…Why are Canadian governments so slow to release budgets and public accounts? – Globe and Mail
Nicholas Dahir is a research assistant at the C.D. Howe Institute. William Robson is chief executive of the C.D. Howe Institute.
Among the most grating and persistent failings of our governments is that they are too slow. Too slow building things, too slow issuing permits and passports, too slow processing taxes, too slow even answering questions.
Less obvious in our daily lives, but troubling on a deeper level, is how late Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments are in presenting their budgets and public accounts. The C.D. Howe Institute recently released its annual report card on the clarity, reliability and timeliness of these documents. Our findings on timeliness alone reveal major problems…
Charles DeLand – Some Easy Fixes for the New Carbon Capture Tax Credit
From: Charles DeLand To: The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance of Canada Date: November 2, 2023 Re: Some Easy Fixes for the New Carbon Capture Tax Credit Canada’s federal government has proposed a range of policies over the past few years designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Among them, refundable investment tax credits […] Drummond, Robson – A Grading Framework for the Upcoming Federal Economic & Fiscal Update
From: Don Drummond and William B.P. Robson To: Fiscal observers Date: November 1, 2023 Re: A Grading Framework for the Upcoming Federal Economic & Fiscal Update The 2023 federal fall Economic Statement is due shortly. This update is intended to foreshadow budget actions and put into the public domain ideas for addressing Canada’s problems. It will be tempting […] Kronick, Ambler – No More Rate Hikes. So What’s Next?
To: Inflation Watchers From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler Date: October 31, 2023 Re: No More Rate Hikes. So What’s Next? The Bank of Canada once again held its policy rate at 5 percent last week. After two months of disappointment, with the annual change in the consumer price index (CPI) ticking up in July and […]The Proper Federal Role in Housing with Benjamin Dachis
If Ottawa is to play a role in solving the housing crisis, it must be strategic and stay out of the way of municipalities. The C.D. Howe Institute’s Benjamin Dachis tells host Michael Hainsworth that changing the tax treatment for both homeowners and rental developers would go a long way towards encouraging more construction.