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1. Trudeau government must act now on trade, taxes as possible recession looms

   Appeared in the Moncton Times & Transcript, September 28, 2018 As Parliament resumes, Canada’s policymakers face a turbulent state of affairs as the United States and China wage an economic Cold War armed with tariffs and Ottawa continues negotiating ...

2. Why demographics are Doug Ford’s greatest challenge

   Ontario’s population is aging. The Spring 2018 Ontario Population Projections Update from the Ministry of Finance forecasts population and age structure for the province and its 49 census divisions, and presents some sobering numbers for ...

3. Ontario’s election—the real economic issues

   Ontario’s June 7 election may be a watershed moment as the new government will deal with an economy that, despite the recent improvement, still faces major challenges with employment and investment, given a housing boom is not a ...

4. Ottawa using bounty of robust growth to simply boost spending

   The recently-released 2018 federal budget calls for growth in both spending and revenues. Between 2017-18 and 2022-23, total revenues are forecast to grow from $309.6 billion to $373.9 billion—an increase of 21 per cent. After a three ...

5. Canada must increase business investment

   As 2018 begins, much of the discussion on the economic challenges facing Canada will focus on the continuing negotiations with the United States regarding NAFTA and the impact of U.S. corporate and personal tax changes on our tax ...

6. The key fiscal lesson of Canada’s first 150 years—spend prudently

   As 2017 draws to a close, Canadians can reflect not only on the outcomes of the last year, but in this milestone 150th year of the federation, also where we are headed. What shall Canada’s economic achievements be as the next 50 years ...

7. Tax hatred? No, tax awareness and tax reform

   Among the modern criteria for a good tax system are the principles of efficiency and equity. But another important principle is also awareness—that is, taxpayers should be aware of the taxes the pay and the benefits they receive from ...

8. In search of new revenue, Ottawa seems to be changing the tax system

   Here’s some interesting information from the 2017 edition of the Federal Fiscal Reference Tables. Total federal tax revenues in 2016-17 were $244.3 billion—up 0.7 per cent from the previous fiscal year. When the tax revenue is broken-up, ...

9. A brief federal budget history—Canada, 1867-2017

   Appeared in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, March 13, 2017 The upcoming federal budget comes in Canada’s 150th year—an important milestone for what is perhaps the most successful country in the world. The evolution of federal finances since 1867 ...

10. Why are northern Ontario’s cities really shrinking?

    The latest census results have caused quite a bit of alarm in northern Ontario as three out of the five major cities have seen a drop in their population while the other two are displaying rather stagnant population growth rates. ...