Benjamin Dachis – Stuck in a Hole, and the Land Transfer Tax Isn’t Your Way Out
To: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow Date: July 21, 2023 From: Benjamin Dachis Re: Stuck in a Hole, and the Land Transfer Tax isn’t Your Way Out Congratulations on your victory last month. As you take charge in your first full week, there’s much conversation about the city’s large financial problem. The most recent operating budget […]Scaling Up Is Hard To Do: Financing Canadian Small Firms
What’s holding back small business growth in Canada? Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises are vital to job creation and economic prosperity but struggle with access to financing compared to peers in other advanced economies. Exner-Pirot and Gullo – Reforming Canada’s regulatory approval and permitting process
To: The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources From: Heather Exner-Pirot and Michael Gullo Date: July 20, 2023 Re: Reforming Canada’s regulatory approval and permitting process There is widespread consensus that Canada’s system for regulating and approving major infrastructure projects is too slow and burdensome. Far […] Canadians’ Sme Engine Needs More Fuel
The growth of Canada’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – the engine of our country’s economy – lag behind those in other advanced economies and face hurdles to financing that are dampening their prospects, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. …Canadians’ SME Engine Needs More Fuel
The growth of Canada’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – the engine of our country’s economy – lag behind those in other advanced economies and face hurdles to financing that are dampening their prospects, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. …COVID-19 was also a fiscal crisis – just how much did governments spend? We don’t know – Globe and Mail
Canadian governments’ lack of transparency is a high-profile concern – and for good reason. Alongside such problems as bureaucratic circumvention of freedom of information laws and ministers responding to questions in legislatures or from the media with mechanical talking points, government finances are far too opaque.
Which brings us to the pandemic of 2020. COVID-19 was not only a health and economic crisis, it was a fiscal crisis. It prompted unprecedented jumps in government spending and borrowing. But how much exactly was going where? We don’t know.
Two years have passed since our federal, provincial and territorial governments closed their books on the fiscal year that ran from April 1, 2020, to March 31,…
Kronick, Ambler – The Last Spike for the Bank?
To: Inflation Watchers From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler Date: July 17, 2023 Re: The Last Spike for the Bank? Last Wednesday, the Bank of Canada increased its policy rate to 5 percent, a level not seen since March 2001. Citing continuing tightness in labour markets and still-firm consumer spending, the Bank reasoned there is still excess […]Reforms Needed for Investor-State Disputes with Lawrence Herman
When you’ve got more than 2,500 international investor agreements worldwide, you’re bound to have disputes. But as trade lawyer and C.D. Howe Institute Senior Fellow Lawrence Herman points out, reforms to the dispute resolution mechanisms need reformation for greater transparency – and to ensure foreign investors still trust that their capital is being respected.
Tingting Zhang – Let’s Embrace a Golden Age for Career Guidance
To: Labour Force Observers From: Tingting Zhang Date: July 13, 2023 Re: Let’s Embrace a Golden Age for Career Guidance As digital technology and the green transition sweep through Canada’s labour market, career navigation becomes increasingly complex and increasingly important to help both employed and unemployed people. This makes the availability and quality of career guidance services, which aim […]Bank of Canada’s latest interest rate hike may be one too many – Globe and Mail
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada increased its policy rate to 5 per cent, a level not seen since March, 2001. Citing continuing tightness in labour markets and still-firm consumer spending, the bank reasoned there is still excess demand in Canada’s economy, and that Wednesday’s rate hike was necessary to continue to bring activity in line with productive potential. But if that adjustment is already happening, this hike may turn out to be one too many.
Among the many challenges a central bank faces in a fight against high inflation is the mixed signals it gets as it hikes rates to get inflation down. In Canada, the year-over-year headline inflation rate fell to 3.4 per cent in May. However, most of that was driven by a fall in…
Jon Johnson – Does NAFTA Live on in TC Energy’s Claim Against Washington?
From: Jon Johnson To: Keystone saga watchers Date: July 11, 2023 Re: Does NAFTA Live on in TC Energy’s Claim Against Washington? There have been recent developments in the investor/state case brought by TC Energy – TransCanada Pipelines of old – against the US under the rules of procedure established by the International Centre for […] Fiscal COVID: The Pandemic’s Impact on Government Finances and Accountability in Canada
Fiscal Covid The Pandemic’s Impact On Government Finances and Accountability in Canada Beyond its damage to Canadians’ health and their economy, COVID-19 strained public finances, and both highlighted and exacerbated gaps in governments’ accountability to legislators and voters. Spending by all senior governments jumped in the 2020/21 fiscal year – up 7 percent on average across […]