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1. 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, ...

2. 81% of middle-class families pay higher income taxes due to Trudeau government changes

   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has repeatedly claimed to have cut income taxes on middle-class Canadian families—a key campaign promise. But as a recent study finds, reality does not match the government’s rhetoric. When all ...

3. Boeing dispute shows the advantage of reviewable trade rules

   Aerospace has always been a little different as industrial politics go, but doesn’t the current Boeing-Bombardier dog fight seem more than usually strange, even for that industry? British Prime Minister Theresa May has now joined Prime ...

4. The market already rewards risk-taking—taxes don’t have to

   For most of my working life I’ve been a tenured university professor, which means I can’t be fired except for cause. In theory, the powers-that-be could shut down my department or, for that matter, my university. But both events are ...

5. Ending supply management will greatly benefit Canadian consumers

   In renegotiating NAFTA, President Trump wants to end Canada’s supply management system. ...

6. Trade policy as social engineering—the downside of more NAFTA vetoes

   Trade policy always involves social engineering. If you change the rules under which goods and services can come into your country, that will change who does what for a living and for how much money. To a greater or lesser extent, ...

7. Canada’s health minister is right about one thing—there’s lots of work to do

   “Moving up the rank, one step at a time #muchmoretodo.” Those are the words Dr. Jane Philpott, Canada’s health minister (pictured above), tweeted upon the recent release of the Commonwealth Fund’s international ranking of health-care ...

8. Canada’s federal deficits would be much worse without Alberta

   The prevailing narrative surrounding the post-2008 recovery in Canada is that the country weathered the storm significantly better than the United States, and has emerged in relatively strong fiscal shape (though certainly not unscathed) ...

9. Canada’s competitiveness problem with the personal income tax

   In 1917, Canada’s political leaders were worried about what the introduction of a personal income tax would mean for the nation’s international competitiveness and its continued ability to attract investment and people. As Canada ...

10. 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 ...