Rosalie Wyonch – The Federal Government Got Marijuana Taxes (almost) Right
To: Provincial Ministers of Finance From: Rosalie Wyonch Date: November 21, 2017 Re: The Federal Government Got Marijuana Taxes (almost) Right Ottawa has announced its plan to tax recreational cannabis once it becomes legal in July of next year. The proposed approach is to tax dried cannabis flowers at a rate of $0.50 per gram […] NAFTA Is Sinking, and Canada Needs a Lifeboat – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
There was zero progress at the North American free-trade agreement renegotiations in Mexico this week. In fact, the talks took a decidedly backward step, with the United States refusing to move off its red-line positions, something that was predictable given the updated negotiating objectives released by the U.S. Trade Representative ahead of this week’s session.
This is an “America First” administration, after all, with no interest in accommodation, increasing the likelihood of eventual U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, an action that President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened, in spite of intensifying business and political pressures to the contrary.
Given that gloomy prospect, let’s look at how things could…
Aging Boomers Breaking The Bank: Later Retirement Part Of Solution
November 21, 2017 – Canada’s greying workforce will spell big fiscal trouble for future taxpayers, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “The Fiscal Implications of Canadians’ Working Longer,” authors William Robson, Colin Busby, and Aaron Jacobs find that demographic…Blake Shaffer – What’s the Real Deal with Keystone XL?
From: Blake Shaffer To: Concerned Canadians Date: November 21, 2017 Re: What’s the Real Deal with Keystone XL? Keystone XL – the 830,000 barrel per day pipeline to deliver heavy crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the US Midwest and Gulf Coast – just passed its last major regulatory hurdle, receiving approval from the Nebraska Public Service Commission by […] The Fiscal Implications of Canadians’ Working Longer
Canada’s greying workforce will spell big fiscal trouble for future taxpayers, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “The Fiscal Implications of Canadians’ Working Longer,” authors William Robson, Colin Busby, and Aaron Jacobs find that demographic change is squeezing the budgets of Canadian governments—increasing the costs of public programs and eroding the tax […] Parisa Mahboubi – High Education, Lower Literacy: What to Do?
From: Parisa Mahboubi To: Canada’s ministers of education and skills development Date: November 20, 2017 Re: High Education, Lower Literacy: What to Do? Canada’s workforce has experienced a troubling slide in literacy and numeracy skills, despite higher levels of education and improvements in learning technology. In my report last week I compared results of international surveys from 2003 and […] Daniel Schwanen – Don’t Let Canada’s Tpp Tactics Morph Into A Strategic Blunder
From: Daniel Schwanen To: François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade Date: November 17, 2017 Re: Don’t Let Canada’s TPP tactics Morph into a Strategic Blunder Canada was right last week to back away from immediately signing on to a revamped Trans-Pacific Partnership, bereft of its largest original signatory, the United States. Certainly, it is important for Canadian […] Jon Johnson – Stand Up to Trump on Trade
As NAFTA renegotiations proceed, the C.D. Howe Institute Intelligence Memos will be looking at what to expect and provide analysis on the latest developments. This post is part of that series. From: Jon Johnson To: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Leader Paul Ryan Date: November 16, 2017 Re: Stand Up to Trump on Trade […]Almos Tassonyi – Provincial “Education” Property Taxes
From: Almos Tassonyi To: Concerned Ontario Businesses Date: November 15, 2017 Re: Provincial “Education” Property Taxes In 1998, the province took over complete responsibility for education finance from local school boards including setting local property tax rates as well as the level of overall funding for education. That was a wise move, along the lines […] Jon Johnson on BNN – Canada and Mexico have no choice but to work together
Jon Johnson, C.D. Howe Institute senior fellow and original NAFTA negotiation advisor, joins BNN to discuss why the negative aspects of NAFTA may be more obvious than the benefits.
Konrad von Finckenstein – NAFTA Plan B: Amend the Trade Priorities Act
As NAFTA renegotiations proceed through the fall, the C.D. Howe Institute Intelligence Memos will be looking at what to expect and provide analysis on the latest developments. This post is part of that series. From: Konrad von Finckenstein To: The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Global Affairs Date: November 14, 2017 Re: NAFTA Plan B: Amend the Trade Priorities […]What Is to Blame for the Widening Racial Earnings Gap? – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Canada’s labour force has become more diverse, but visible minorities as a whole still struggle to achieve parity in the labour market. Even accounting for differences in individuals’ characteristics, the data show that the slow process of integration for immigrants merits special attention.
More than one-fifth of Canadians are visible minorities – non-Indigenous and “non-Caucasian” in race or non-white in colour – according to the 2016 Census. Visible minorities earned only 81.2 per cent of what non-visible minorities earned in 2015 – a gap that has widened by 2.6 percentage points since 2000.
Education, work experience and occupation play important roles in earning outcomes, but they are not able to fully…