Barrie homeowners, businesses and industries were collectively taxed 41 per cent more than the Ontario average last year, says a recent think-tank study. And the reason is this city spends 76 per cent more on basic municipal services -- such as water, sewer and roads...
Year: 2008
City Stacks up Poorly on Tax Front
City residents pay higher taxes than most Ontarians, but City Hall spends less on recreation, culture and services than their municipal partners. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy released its annual report card for Canadian cities, ranking the relative financial...
Corporate Canada and Our Fiscal Life-Jackets
Corporations will always rise and fall; they shouldn’t be given help to grab life-jackets from the rest of us on the way down.
A Question of Accountability
Saint John’s audited statements should be immediately available, analyst says.
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Canada in 2073—Will There Be One?
“Ahead, Thar Be Dragons.” The world of 2023 is a scary place. One major war is raging, with others probably on the way. The Pax Americana that has given us freedom of the seas and allowed global trade to flourish might be breaking down. International piracy,...
World Cries out for Canadian LNG, “No Business Case” Feds have Totally Failed Us
Today, Canada’s natural gas sector is seeing its decade of darkness due to federal policy. And it’s not because the opportunity wasn’t there. It was because our government allowed its ideology, and that of its anti-oil and gas friends (also known as protestors) to...
Equalization Reform Required
Defenders of equalization in its current form argue the program allows for roughly comparable levels of services in all provinces. Actually, it does not, which is why Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has long and justifiably complained about federal transfer programs. New equalization payments to Ontario will not change that.
Have-Not Status Is All About Gaming The Rules
Should Ontario ever change the slogan on its licence plates, it might consider a variation on a certain bank tagline. “We’re richer than you think” would be a balm on the wounded self-esteem of Canada’s newest have-not province.
Lessons From India In Organizational Innovation: A Tale Of Two Heart Hospitals
Recent discussions in health reform circles have pinned great hopes on the prospect of innovation as the solution to the high-cost, inadequate-quality U.S. health system. But U.S. health care institutions – insurers, providers, and specialists – have ceded leadership in innovation to Indian hospitals such as Care Hospital in Hyderabad and the Fortis Hospitals around New Delhi, which have U.S.-trained doctors and can perform open heart surgery for $6,000 (compared to $100,000 in the United States). The Indian success is a window into America’s stalemate with inflating costs and stagnant innovation.
Ontario Party Would Get Some Federal Attention
Now consider this scenario: The Ontario Party is formed in time for the next federal election and it has a simple focus. What’s good for Ontario is good for the Ontario Party. There are 308 seats in the House of Commons, 106 of them representing Ontario. Just the existence of a credible party from Ontario would force the others to pay attention to us, but if the Ontario Party won even 30 seats, it would effectively prevent any of the big parties from winning a majority.
How Immigration Could Save America
Suppose that one million new immigrants responded to this opportunity. Unlike most foreign investors, these are people who would be making the ultimate commitment to America, choosing to live there and ultimately becoming citizens. These one million new investors would put $200-billion into the housing market immediately, soaking up excess supply without drawing on the strained balance sheets of financial institutions.
Canada’s Own Financial Bubbles: Have-Not Provinces
Our regional subsidy system is not transparent, it is not sustainable and it is driven by excess. It is almost by any definition a bubble.
Advice For Ontario: Play hardball
The move would be provocative. It would be parochial. It could spark a serious federal-provincial clash. But maybe Premier Dalton McGuinty needs to cause a little trouble in Ottawa, says economist Hugh Mackenzie. Asking for a fair deal for Ontario hasn’t done much good. So here is Mackenzie’s idea: McGuinty should serve notice to the Prime Minister that Ontario intends to opt out of the Employment Insurance system and set up its own program.
Dan Mitchell – Audio Interview Clips
Dan Mitchell, Tax Expert and Cato Institute Senior Fellow was interviewed by Frontier Centre’s David Seymour at the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Tokyo, September 2008.
Dan Mitchell, Flat Tax Advocate
There are now 18 former communist countries that have flat taxes. There are 25 countries overall that have flat taxes and a lot of this is being driven by three things. One, it’s being driven by tax competition. Globalization means it’s easier for tax payers saving and investment and labour to cross national borders and that means that if adopt a good system like a flat tax as a country you are going to attract a lot of productive economic activity into your borders so countries are figuring out this is a route to economic prosperity.