Barry Gros – Target Benefit Pension Plan Sustainability: Determining the Optimal Role and Magnitude of PfADs
To: Ontario’s Pension Policy Branch From: Barry Gros Date: May 19, 2023 Re: Target Benefit Pension Plan Sustainability: Determining the Optimal Role and Magnitude of PfADs The Ontario Ministry of Finance released a consultation document on target benefit pension (TBP) regulation, with a June 30 feedback deadline. I evaluated its proposals in two recent Intelligence […]Jason Vary – Bill C-228: The Four-Year Countdown Starts Now
To: Pension Policy Watchers From: Jason Vary Date: May 17, 2023 Re: Bill C-228: The Four-Year Countdown Starts Now Well, despite all the doomsaying about unintended consequences, Bill C-228 the Pension Protection Act is now law. It received royal assent on April 27 and a four-year transition clock is now ticking. Quick Refresher The new […]Bob Baldwin – The Canada Pension Plan is in Good Shape, But Risks Not Widely Understood
To: Federal and Provincial Governments From: Bob Baldwin Date: May 16, 2023 Re: The Canada Pension Plan is in Good Shape, But Risks Not Widely Understood Last December, the Office of the Chief Actuary (OCA) presented the 31st actuarial review of the Canada Pension Plan to the Minister of Finance. As someone who reviewed the 30th […]No time to delay on long-term care solutions, which should include insurance models – Toronto Star Op-ed
Recently, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) issued a report entitled “Could a National Long-Term Care Insurance Program be a Feasible Solution to Address Canada’s Growing Long-Term Care Crisis?”
In the wake of the high COVID-19-related death rates in Canada’s long-term care (LTC) facilities and the aging of the population, the NIA report is a helpful avenue of interrogation, providing a thorough analysis of how other countries have implemented LTC insurance models.
But we can sharpen the question: how will support and funding be managed to meet the doubling over the next 20 years of the number of Canadians 75 years of age and older? That is an increase of over 3 million older seniors.
NIA forecasts…
Governments need to realize — better health depends on better health data – Financial Post Op-Ed
Canada’s governments recently came to broad agreement on renewing federal-provincial health transfers. Ottawa asked the provinces and territories to modernize Canadians’ access to their electronic health information with “standardized health data and digital tools.” Bilateral negotiation will define the details of these digital aspirations. Canadians should pay attention: their health depends on it.
Canadian healthcare is not so much a system as a complex network of interdependent agents — governments, publicly funded services, private providers, professional orders and others. Whether you’re a nurse, doctor, health researcher, public health practitioner, health administrator or in government, trustworthy information is…
Benjamin Dachis – Budget 2023 Interswitching Changes will Derail Supply Chains
To: The Hon. Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport From: Benjamin Dachis Date: May 15, 2023 Re: Budget 2023 Interswitching Changes will Derail Supply Chains Ottawa’s 2023 Budget re-introduced a controversial railway policy abandoned in 2017. For the next 18 months, railway customers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will have access to extended interswitching. This change […]Portable Heath Benefits Plan with Chris Bonnett and Rosalie Wyonch
One in three Ontarians do not have access to workplace health and dental benefits. In its commentary titled “Better for Workers, Better for All? Assessing a Portable Health Benefits Plan in Ontario”, the C.D. Howe Institute investigates a possible solution for that almost 30% of those in the province who need coverage.
Lawrence Herman – Keeping Trade Remedies on the Radar Screen
From: Lawrence Herman To: Canadians Concerned About Trade Date: May 11, 2023 Re: Keeping Trade Remedies on the Radar Screen Even if not front of mind, there have been critical developments in Canada’s trade remedy system that reflect a more expansive – indeed aggressive – Canadian trade policy, warranting closer attention by business, not least because […]Duncan Munn – Toward a Real-Time Framework for Bank Supervision
From: Duncan Munn To: Canada’s Financial System Regulators Date: May 10, 2023 Re: Toward a Real-Time Framework for Bank Supervision Much ink has been spilled over the past few weeks regarding the turmoil in the banking industry following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Now, another regional bank, First Republic Bank has failed after $100 billion of deposits went […] Let’s try arbitration instead of public service strikes – Financial Post Op-Ed
High and unpredictable inflation has made labour negotiations more difficult. The recent strike by more than 150,000 federal public servants is but one illustration. Lasting 12 days for most affected workers and two weeks for 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees, it brought into focus an issue all Canadian governments need to address, and quickly: What methods can they use to ensure critical municipal, provincial or federal public services continue without interruption, and at a tolerable cost to taxpayers? I believe they need to make more use of binding arbitration.
Several decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, particularly in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour vs Saskatchewan in 2015, have created new…
Investor-State Disputes: The Record and the Reforms Needed for the Road Ahead
There are some 2,500 international investment agreements (IIAs) in force around the world, whether as stand-alone treaties or incorporated into bilateral or regional free trade agreements (FTAs). They are a significant feature of the international business scene.A main feature of these agreements is to allow foreign investors to invoke binding arbitration where it is alleged […]