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With her Cabinet unveiled, the reality of governing now takes hold for Premier Christy Clark. In setting the government’s post-election agenda, the focus should squarely be on economic (income) and job growth, priorities Premier Clark clearly established during the election campaign.

If the Liberals are to deliver on a sound economy with strong employment growth, the first task should be ensuring a balanced budget this year. Doing so will then allow for an aggressive, purposeful plan for reduction in taxes in Budget 2014.


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With Ontario and Quebec accounting for nearly 60% of Canada's gross domestic product, as they go, so goes the Canadian economy. Unfortunately, the economic news from Canada's largest provinces doesn't look good, and many forecasters are now downgrading their economic growth projections.

While part of the reason for their lagging economies stems from external forces (i.e., a shaky U.S. economy), the policies implemented by the Ontario and Quebec governments have contributed to, rather than mitigated, economic woes in those provinces.


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Despite 22 years of free trade with Americans, consumers in Canada regularly pay more compared to the U.S. price tag on similar items. That fact has finally come to the attention of Ottawa: “Canadians are irritated when they see large price discrepancies on the exact same products being sold on different sides of the border,” stated Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, this in his recent letter to the Senate’s Finance Committee.

“I share their irritation,” wrote Flaherty, as he requested the committee study the matter.


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In the 1987 movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, actors John Candy and Steve Martin encountered chronic obstacles in their attempt to reach Chicago, their hometown, for Thanksgiving. Weather, for one, wreaked havoc with their plans.

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