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…
In the days before credit cards, before microwave machines, before The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast across the night TV screens, bread was a dime, pop a nickel or less, and my grandfather worked for a mill in the Canadian great northwest. Years ago, I would visit my grandfather in his Richmond, B.C., apartment. We would…
Trudeau needs to go back to drawing board and come up with an environmental plan that doesn’t hammer taxpayers
By Aaron Wudrick and Franco Terrazzano Canadian Taxpayers Federation Whenever Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to solve a problem, his solution can’t be to hit families and businesses struggling to get by with even more costs. Yet, that’s exactly the approach Trudeau is taking with his second carbon tax. As Postmedia columnist John Ivison reported,…
Alberta’s cities need to first tackle the cost elephant in the room: labour
We hear councillors offer nice platitudes about understanding the hardships Albertans are going through, but actions speak louder than words. And the recent push for new tax powers shows that big city councillors and mayors are divorced from the reality facing Alberta. In June, Red Deer council voted unanimously to back an Edmonton resolution calling…
Richard Nixon and Pat Moynihan had a plan to end poverty. In the end, it was far too complicated, and languished and died
Whether it’s called a guaranteed annual income or a universal basic income, this currently fashionable idea isn’t new. And the fact that it hasn’t happened yet is a tipoff to the associated complexities. One of the earliest proponents was an American right-winger. In 1962’s Capitalism and Freedom, libertarian economist Milton Friedman proposed what he called…
It’s high time to evaluate the possibility of a guaranteed minimum income, for greater financial equity for all
Every month, Statistics Canada reminds us that life is getting more expensive. But for food, the situation has been unique over the last few decades. Based on numbers released recently, the price of a typical grocery basket has increased by about 240 per cent since 2000. Some will think such a percentage is expected, given…
But Ontario’s experience is being ignored and could lead to billions more spent and higher energy costs for Canadians
By Elmira Aliakbari and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute Gerry Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is at the heart of a new group, the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery, which recently released a series of recommendations for massive investment in green projects. The recommendations seems to be influencing the prime…
Construction and design features matter more to buyers than price or age of properties, engineering researchers find
Physical features such as construction materials, interior finishes and air conditioning are better determinants of how well a condo sells than price or building age, according to a University of Alberta study looking to pinpoint design-related features that increase the probability of a condo’s sale. “We’re trying to provide a framework through which builders can evaluate…
The focus on the federal deficit has rightly been on the staggering scope of emergency spending, but there has been much less talk about the other big part of the equation: government revenues have plunged due to the economic shutdown. Indeed, the federal government’s July fiscal snapshot revealed that the government expects a steep drop…
Trudeau isn’t saying no new taxes; he’s saying we should continue to spend today and pay for it with taxes tomorrow
By Tegan Hill and Jake Fuss The Fraser Institute Despite promising significant increases to already historically high spending, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently pledged there will be no new taxes. This rhetoric is simply false. To pay for today’s spending, the Liberal government must either tax today or defer tax increases to the future by…
U of A experts offer tips on how to handle your money during the pandemic – including decontaminating bills and coins
Many businesses worried about COVID-19 contamination are touchy about taking cash, but the greater risk may be in overusing our plastic. Shoppers using credit or debit cards for every purchase instead of cash and coins will have to watch their spending habits, said Mike Maier, a financial expert with the Alberta School of Business at the University…
From online grocery shopping to home delivery to cooking with fresh ingredients to higher prices to fewer choices in stores
More than five months into the pandemic, we can start to see how life will look on the other side. At the grocery store, some changes will disappear while others will stay with us for the foreseeable future. Food is getting more expensive everywhere, including Canada. We expect prices to increase by four per cent.…
If the feds send the larger equalization rebate to Alberta, then it should be made out to the taxpayers who have been paying the bills
Here’s a fundamental point about equalization: the provincial government doesn’t pay for equalization, taxpayers do. Premier Jason Kenney is calling on the feds to increase the equalization rebate to the Alberta government to offset some of the impacts of the downturn. But any equalization rebate should go back to the Albertans who have been paying…