The last thing Albertans need right now is a provincial government reaching further into our pockets with higher income taxes. But higher income taxes are exactly what Albertans are getting in 2021, courtesy of Premier Jason Kenney’s sneaky backdoor tax grab known as bracket creep. Bracket creep happens when governments stop indexing tax brackets with…
No thought as to how it could put many Canadian families in a state of food insecurity by 2030
COVID-19 has had an impact on Canada’s food industry but, over time, resilience will prevail. However, the federal government’s pre-holiday announcement that it will increase the carbon tax to $170 per tonne by 2030 will have a long-term impact on consumers. Climate change is a real and significant problem. We need to act quickly, and…
The good news? Pandemic under control. The bad news? Very slow growth, high debt, higher taxes, high unemployment
The future is imaginary, said philosopher Baruch Spinoza. We don’t and can’t know what will happen in the future and last year certainly demonstrated that. Nevertheless, the desire to see what the new year will bring always overcomes the future’s inherent mystery. We peer into our crystal balls and bravely prognosticate, knowing full well that…
Trudeau told us he wouldn’t be increasing taxes. He lied
By Aaron Wudrick Federal Director and Franco Terrazzano Alberta Director Canadian Taxpayers Federation Happy New Year taxpayers! Well, maybe not so happy after all. Courtesy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, you can now expect higher home heating bills and gas prices. The Trudeau government recently rolled out new plans to massively increase the carbon tax…
The pace of food inflation is unmanageable for many
Canada’s Food Price Report 2021 brought some disconcerting news to Canadians. We could see food prices rise by as much as five per cent in 2021, according to the recently-released report. That’s the highest increase ever predicted by the report’s authors, a group of 24 scholars from four universities. For a family of four, the…
Dedicated CBC radio listener that I am, it was hard to hear through the why-everyone-in-Alberta-is-going-to-die narrative that launched the national morning news throughout last week. But thanks to my heritage, I have an ear for loose change. In her fiscal update, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tossed a happy-hour special onto the bar of the…
By Jason Clemens, and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Since its election, the current federal Liberal government has consistently demonstrated its disinterest in targeting spending to those in need and limiting debt accumulation. Despite expected deficits of $381.6 billion this year and $121.2 billion next year, and that the national debt (adjusted for financial assets)…
Leaving huge bills for future generations to pay
By Jason Clemens and Jake Fuss The Fraser Institute Since coming to power in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his finance ministers have characterized their management of federal finances as “prudent,” an adjective meaning to act with or show care and thought for the future. Acting prudently would mean being judicious about borrowing and debt.…
The Trudeau government has taken the federal deficit from $19 billion to $381 billion in just nine months
It’s official: the Trudeau government has taken the federal deficit from $19 billion to $381 billion in just nine months. That’s the staggering takeaway from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s fall economic statement, and it means Canada’s total federal debt will for the first time shoot past $1 trillion in a few weeks. Critics will argue…
How do we sustain large deficits, wind them down and gradually slow the debt accumulation?
Ordinary Canadians have begun worrying about something that usually only ‘dismal scientists’ – i.e. economists – care about: our alarming federal and provincial deficits and exploding government debt. Putting an economy into lockdown was assuredly going to reduce tax revenues and increase transfers to individuals and businesses to ameliorate the devastation wrought by the COVID-19…
We crave, mythologize, demonize and fight wars over money. Why can’t we just treat it with respect and maintain harmony in the home?
My husband and I once got into a mild argument over finances. It started with calculating costs for a trip east with friends to see a football game. It ended with a tally of summer bills and how on earth they would ever get paid. This happens in countless households. Money – or lack of…
Canadians love receiving government largesse, as long as someone else is paying for it, even if it is their kids
By Jason Clemens and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Pulitzer Prize-winning author George Will has repeatedly argued that, contrary to conventional wisdom, there is enormous consensus in Washington, D.C. – borrow today to finance spending and tax cuts but leave the costs (i.e. taxes) to the next generation. There are increasing signs that Canadians are…
A ship without an anchor risks drifting into stormy waters. The same is true of governments that borrow and spend. More than six months into the global pandemic, it’s time for the Trudeau government to figure out what safeguards to put in place to ensure our temporary plunge into record deficits doesn’t become a permanent…
The Quebec system offers an opportunity to dive deeply into outcomes. The results aren’t promising for children
Advocates of state-run child care saw opportunity in the COVID-19 crisis. It’s an old idea but not a great one. Working parents returned home to care for their children, some able to continue paid work from home and others not. As a result, calls for universal child care grew louder than they had for 15…
Governments tend to forget about consumers when managing supply. Open trade to more cheese and challenge our farmers
Cheese heads – it’s what Canadians are called in many of the United States border regions. It’s because when many Canadians visit their American neighbours, they head straight to the nearest supermarket and buy cheese – and milk and eggs. Dairy and eggs are much more expensive in Canada than in the U.S., even when…