Op-Eds
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Friday that she will not allow the City of Toronto to proceed with road tolls. I’ll leave the politics of this decision to others, but the economic consequences of the decision will be more congestion and myriad problems for cities reliant on unsustainable provincial grants.
How did we get here? About a decade ago, the province granted the City of Toronto – and only Toronto – the power to levy tolls on roads it operates, among other new tax powers. There was a catch, however: The province retained the final say by having to pass a regulation allowing such a road toll. In December, Toronto City Council voted in favour of asking the province to allow Toronto to place…
Forced Co-operation Recipe for Bad Blood Among Alberta Municipalities: Edmonton Journal Op-Ed
Last May, the provincial government took steps to modernize Alberta’s Municipal Government Act.
One of the major changes was a call for forced inter-municipal cooperation, where arbitration would bind municipalities through shotgun marriages with the goal of squeezing out efficiencies in service production. Forced cooperation of this nature, however, has been shown to be harmful elsewhere in Canada.
The provincial government should instead look towards a more flexible model for enhancing inter-municipal cooperation, such as British Columbia’s regional districts.
Inter-municipal cooperation can be an effective means of providing services while not sacrificing economies of scale and scope. Municipalities may…
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s tussle with the Department of Finance about missing numbers in the latest federal budget projections shows that even experts have problems deciphering governments’ fiscal plans.
And if the experts have problems, how about non-experts – legislators who vote on budgets and approve spending estimates, citizens concerned about public affairs or taxpayers who pay for it all? Getting transparent financial reports from Canadian governments will take a lot more work.
Even before Finance Minister Bill Morneau rose in the House of Commons to deliver the March 22 budget, analysts in the budget lock-up were scratching their heads. And not just because, in a 419-page document, the critical…
The newly elected government in Ottawa has committed to increase the tax burden on the richest 1 per cent of earners and redistribute the proceeds by reducing the burden on middle-income earners. More specifically, the federal tax rate on taxable income greater than $200,000 would rise from 29 to 33 per cent. The tax rate on taxable income from $45,000 to $90,000 would drop from 22 to 20.5 per cent. The Liberal platform expects these changes to cost nothing: The new top rate is anticipated to bring in as much as the decreased middle-income rate is supposed to forgo.
There is one potential hiccup to the plan, however: The electoral platform may have been overly optimistic with respect to how much additional revenues the new tax…
By William Robson
Whatever the configuration of the new federal Parliament Canadians will elect on Oct. 19, the incoming government will want to lay out its economic and fiscal strategies early. The following memo could help.
Memo
To The incoming prime minister
Re The new federal government’s economic framework
Congratulations on a successful election and best wishes as your government takes office. A key task is to adjust from the partisan imperatives of the campaign to the enduring economic challenges and opportunities, and the long-term focus Canadians need to prosper in the years ahead. Sustainable fiscal management, developing and deploying human capital, and industrial policy driven…
