Jim Mccarter Appointed As C.D. Howe Institute Senior Fellow
William Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, announces the appointment of Jim McCarter as a Senior Fellow. “A consistent theme in Jim’s career has been providing legislators and the public with reliable…Managing COVID beyond lockdowns and vaccine research – iPolitics Op-Ed
The sharp escalation of COVID-19 cases this fall has highlighted the problem of governments’ extensive reliance on emergency powers and far-reaching orders that limit activities. Their “acute crisis” approach reflects an undue focus on vaccines as the dominant near-term solution to the pandemic. It neither recognizes nor addresses the uncertain timeline and other major challenges until safe and effective vaccines are available, well distributed, and sufficiently taken up.
Despite the very encouraging recent progress on vaccine development, vaccine-centric policies have led to serious weaknesses in government communications and inadequate resources to deal with the current resurgence. It has made the re-imposition of tough…
S2 E20: Flattening the Curve on the Second Wave
The second wave of COVID-19 is upon us, and hard lessons learned over the spring aren’t necessarily being applied today. So how do we flatten the curve going into the holidays? Hear insights from Colleen M. Flood, University of Ottawa Research Chair in Health Law & Policy; Paul Jenkins, former Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada; […] John Pecman – Let The Market Manage Food Delivery Pricing
From: John Pecman To: Canadians Concerned about Competition Date: November 25, 2020 Re: Let the Market Manage Food Delivery Pricing As restrictions continue on in-person dining, COVID-19 has made restaurants increasingly dependent on food delivery platforms. Last month, the City of Toronto asked Ontario to temporarily cap the service fees restaurants are charged, which can be as high as […] Ottawa’s New Budget Presentation Would Bury Employee Pension Costs
November 24 – Proposed changes to the federal government’s budget presentation threaten to sweep the true costs of federal employee pensions under the rug, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Under the Rug: The Pitfalls of an “Operating Balance” Approach for…Under the Rug: The Pitfalls of an “Operating Balance” Approach for Reporting Federal Employee Pension Obligations
Alexandre Laurin and William B.P. Robson examine a proposed revamp of the federal statement of operations that would highlight an “operating balance” in addition to the annual surplus or deficit and the resulting change in the government’s accumulated deficit. The authors argue that the proposed presentation would move costs of federal employee pensions that were […] Found, Tomlinson – Ontario Reforms Its Business Property Tax
From: Adam Found and Peter Tomlinson To: Public Finance Experts Date: November 24, 2020 Re: Ontario Reforms its Business Property Tax Can anything good come of the novel coronavirus? Examples are clearly scarce, but there’s one notable entry in Ontario’s 2020 budget. The budget announced long overdue reform to the province’s business property tax – […] David Gray – What Does The Pandemic Teach Us About Ei?
From: David Gray To: The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Date: November 23, 2020 Re: What Does the Pandemic Teach us about EI? The COVID-19 pandemic brought labour market conditions to Depression-era levels during the months of April and May, and as of October, the unemployment rate of 8.9 […] Benjamin Dachis – How High Municipal Housing Charges And Taxes Decrease Housing Supply
To: City councils and provincial ministers of housing From: Benjamin Dachis Date: November 20, 2020 Re: How High Municipal Housing Charges and Taxes Decrease Housing Supply Home prices have skyrocketed in places like Vancouver and Toronto in the last decade. These cities have some of the highest charges on new homes and most restrictions on construction. Evidence from around […] John Chant Re-appointed As C.D. Howe Institute Research Fellow
William Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, announces the re-appointment of John Chant as a Research Fellow. “John has long been pre-eminent among Canadian scholars of banking and financial regulation, and has a…Ambler, Kronick – Three Reasons To Think Inflation Could Return Sooner Than Later
From: Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick To: Inflation watchers Date: November 19, 2020 Re: Three Reasons to Think Inflation Could Return Sooner Than Later The Bank of Canada’s latest quarterly Monetary Policy Report (MPR) sketched the long and likely winding road the economy needs to travel before it gets back to its pre-pandemic self. And, with it, the […] Daniel Schwanen – Containing Covid-19 In Ontario: Skate To Where The Virus Is Going
To: Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott From: Daniel Schwanen Date: November 18, 2020 Subject: Containing COVID-19 in Ontario – Skate to Where the Virus is Going Ontario’s lower case thresholds for triggering stages of progressively tighter socio-economic restrictions, announced Friday, recalibrate its framework to at least bring it more in line […]