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1. Morneau tweet ignores evidence of Canada’s investment problem

   Statistics Canada’s latest survey on investment intentions for 2018 found that private-sector investment is slated to fall again this year. ...

2. State of federal finances worse than previously thought

   The latest federal budget showed that public finances are in poor shape and Ottawa is ill-prepared for a possible economic recession. But a recent Parliamentary Budget Office report suggests the situation may be worse than the government ...

3. CPP expansion will shrink available pool of investment capital in Canada

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, May 7, 2018 Canada has a growing investment problem. Business investment (excluding residential structures—houses, condos, etc.) has dropped nearly 20 per cent since 2014, and the level of business investment (as a ...

4. Canada has completely lost its business tax advantage over the U.S.

   Many factors affect Canada’s ability to attract and retain investment, entrepreneurship, and skilled workers. Some of them—such as global swings in commodity prices—are not within the government’s direct control. But government policies ...

5. Expansion of the Canada Pension Plan and the Unintended Effect on Domestic Investment

   Beginning in 2019, mandatory contributions by Canadian workers to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will increase, step by step, over seven years. While the expansion of the CPP may be well intentioned, it will result in several unintended consequences. One ...

6. An unconditional basic income—a bad idea for many reasons

   Appeared in the National Post, May 1, 2018 Almost 50 years ago, a Canadian Senate report declared that a basic income “is an idea whose time has come.” Ever since, the idea resurfaces every so often, with support that spans the political spectrum. Most ...

7. Canadians—there was no middle-class tax cut

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, April 30, 2018 With tax season just behind us, many Canadians are realizing the full weight of the income taxes they paid in 2017, and some may wonder about the much-heralded middle-class tax cut promised by the ...

8. Cost of tax compliance in Canada—no relief in sight

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, April 29, 2018 For millions of Canadians, the tax return deadline is a reminder of the drudgery and cost of complying with an increasingly complicated income tax system. Back in 2016, to the excitement of many, Prime Minister ...

9. Federal infrastructure spending—a mess of delays and misguided priorities

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, April 27, 2018 In 2015, the Trudeau government came into office on the promise of running small annual budget deficits of no more than $10 billion for three years to finance new spending on infrastructure projects that ...

10. Grits and Tories both wrong on Ontario minimum wage policy

    Appeared in the Toronto Star, April 24, 2018 The Ontario Liberals and Ontario PCs both recently announced how they intend to help the working poor if they win the next election. Unfortunately, neither party has the right policy for targeting those who ...