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1. The finance minister said what? Part 3

   This third installment in what has unfortunately become an ongoing series of blog posts examining statements by Canada’s federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau (pictured above) focuses on recent comments made during testimony before the ...

2. The high cost of getting climate policy wrong

   The Internet is abuzz over a recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) that shines some light on the potential impact of the federal carbon tax plan on Canada’s economy. Specifically, the report shows that the carbon price ...

3. Rolling back carbon taxes—here’s how

   When I talk about rolling back carbon taxes, I get a range of replies, ranging from “why do you want to destroy the Earth” to “you can’t do that because Trudeau has federalized it!” Another reply I get (usually said sarcastically) is “Oh ...

4. Premier Notley and pipelines—better late than never

   One must give credit where credit is due, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s evolution on pipelines is due some credit. She fired a warning shot with the short-lived British Columbia wine embargo, but is unlimbering some far heavier ...

5. The last straw for entrepreneurs and businesses in Canada?

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, March 17, 2018 The idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” describes a minor or routine action that causes a large and sudden reaction because of the cumulative effects of many small actions over time. This might well ...

6. Canada’s phony debate about carbon taxes

   Appeared in Maclean's, February 23, 2018 In the Ontario PC leadership race, all four candidates hoping to replace Patrick Brown as leader oppose carbon taxes, a centrepiece of Brown’s Tory platform. The federal Conservative Party also opposes carbon ...

7. GST revenues from carbon-pricing—likely another tax grab

   This week, as Canadians were sliding into their holiday mindset, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released a report estimating the GST revenues collected by the federal government through existing carbon-pricing schemes in four ...

8. Canada’s Climate Action Plans: Are They Cost-effective?

   Four provinces in Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec) have promulgated “action plans” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These plans have several broad components. There is a carbon pricing component; there are assortments of energy ...

9. Economists and media fuel confusion on Canada’s economy and economic policy

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, November 3, 2017 As the old joke goes, why did God create economists? To make weatherman look good. At times like this, nothing could be closer to the truth (full disclosure, we’re economists). On Monday, Statistics Canada ...

10. Carbon tax advocates flip-flop on revenue neutrality

    For many years, advocates of carbon taxes have acknowledged the necessity of “revenue neutrality” as a means of mitigating the economic damages such tax measures cause to households and the economy. In normal economic parlance, “revenue ...