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1. In the evolving trade debacle with the U.S, Ottawa must act

   The outlook for ongoing NAFTA negotiations grows dimmer by the day, notwithstanding the conciliatory statement by Mexico’s new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known colloquially as AMLO). In a recent interview after exit polling ...

2. Competitiveness should be a top priority for finance ministers

   Serious concerns about the country’s competitiveness hovered above talks this week at the federal-provincial finance ministers meeting in Ottawa. Which is not surprising. Canada has become a less appealing place to do business due to ...

3. Memo to Doug Ford—Ontario desperately needs personal income tax reform

   Due to last week’s election victory, Doug Ford is Ontario’s premier-designate. However, now comes the difficult task of governing. While there’s no shortage of pressing policy issues for the province, tax relief should be top of mind ...

4. Another wake-up call for Canadian governments to improve investment climate

   Suncor, one of the country’s largest energy companies, recently gave Canadian governments what should be a piercing wake-up call. CEO Steve Williams said his company won’t tackle any new major projects in Canada and his company will ...

5. The case for federal personal income tax reform in Canada

   On the 100th anniversary of Canada’s federal personal income tax (PIT), the federal government would be wise to consider reforming personal income taxes by eliminating several “tax expenditures” (tax credits, deductions and other special ...

6. Why Canada has an income tax—the ‘conscription of wealth’

   “In such experience as I have had with taxation—and it has been considerable—there is only one tax that I know of that is popular, and that is the tax that is on the other fellow.” —Sir Thomas White, House of Commons debate on the income ...

7. Higher taxes, less competitive economy potentially on the way for British Columbia

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, June 19, 2017 Amid all the speculation about politics and who will form a government in B.C., it’s easy to lose sight of the real impact of policy changes awaiting British Columbians. Take tax policy, for example, which ...

8. Compliance costs and complexity in Canada’s personal income tax

   It’s clear that much has changed since the personal income tax (PIT) was first introduced in 1917. Governments now rely significantly more on this revenue source than they did then. For instance, the federal government now relies on the ...

9. The high cost of raising revenue through Canada’s personal income tax

   The personal income tax (PIT) is the single largest source of revenue for Canadian governments, but it also has a major impact on the level and growth of personal income. The PIT influences a wide range of important economic decisions ...

10. William Watson: the way we were—a small government taxing consumption

    The federal budget of 1917, Canada’s last without an income tax, was brought down on April 24 of that year, just 12 days after what many regard as the country’s coming of age at the battle of Vimy Ridge. In his budget speech, which, like ...