Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Canada’s largest corporations are pushing the Mark Carney government for faster and more radical changes in their favour, weeks after a federal budget that was seen by critics as already capitulating to many big business demands.  CEOs from two of the country’s largest business lobby groups, the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, published an op-ed in the Toronto Star on December 4 calling the budget’s measures “baby steps” and asking for deeper tax cuts and fewer regulations. “If Mark Carney wants to hit his $1 trillion investment goal for Canada, baby steps won’t do,” the article’s headline stated. The CEOs called for Canada to “distinguish itself in a big way on the tax front” from the United States.  “Given the level of uncertainty, it is unclear how sensitive business investment is to marginal tax changes,” they wrote ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The federal election is now in full swing. With the American trade war compounding a years-long affordability crisis, the cost of living is predictably a central issue for voters. According to a recent Ipsos poll, 23 per cent of Canadians ranked cost-of-living as their top issue. To address affordability, the two major parties have thus far offered a series of tax cuts. These proposals are economically nonsensical and regressive, undermine solidarity, and further contribute to the right-wing drift of Canadian politics ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The Canadian economy’s historic slowdown is contributing to an extended decline in many people’s living standards. From 2013 to 2022, inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) grew at its slowest pace since the 1930s (Cross, 2023). Since the middle of 2019, real GDP per person has been falling in what has become one of the longest declines of the last 40 years (Munro, Clemens, and Palacios, 2024). Yet despite this, the federal government continues to pursue fiscal policies that aggravate the problem (Fuss and Clemens, 2024). Looking at these facts, it is imperative that the government adopt a new fiscal policy approach that fosters economic growth and helps improve living standards for Canadians ... CLICK HERE for the summary CLICK HERE for the full study

I doubt very much anyone would wonder on my political leanings – they tend to the conservative side of the political spectrum, however social issues concern me greatly, which is why for me, the platform of Andrew Scheer’s Conservative Party are a pleasure to see ... as is the 100 Day Action Plan which was announced on Monday. Andrew Scheer said that a new Conservative government will waste no time making life more affordable for Canadians, tabling the Get Ahead Fiscal Update to ensure that Canadians will get more money back in their pockets starting in the 2020 taxation year. “ We’re going to help you get ahead, and we’re going get started right away ,” Scheer said. “ Our Get Ahead Fiscal Update will mean ... more money in your pocket starting on January 1, 2020 .” He went on to say ... “ Canadians are falling further and further behind. There’s no time to waste ”. According to the Conservatives, by January 1 st of next year the Get Ahead Fisc...

Overtaxing the rich: A cautionary tale  Tim Cestnick ~~ Special to The Globe and Mail Published May 14, 2015 Updated May 15, 2018 The nice thing about an election year that's accompanied by federal budget surpluses is that it's fertile ground for tax cuts ... but who should really benefit from tax cuts? While it might not seem politically correct to suggest that the rich should get the lion's share of tax breaks, let me share a story that I first shared many years ago that provides food for thought here. Each and every day, 10 men go to a restaurant for dinner together. The bill for all 10 comes to $100 each day. If the bill were paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The 10th man – the richest – would pay $59. Although the 10 men didn't share the bill equally, they all seemed content enough with the arrangement – until the...