Tales of government waste make for excellent news headlines. Bev Oda's infamous $16 orange juice probably got more media attention than the $45 billion F35 procurement debacle. Part of the reason is that is that people understand the value and cost of orange juice. It...
Taxation
Tired government can’t break spending habit
If you hoped for a balanced budget or a serious break on your taxes in the March 6 budget, you were disappointed. As to the budget itself, the government's increasing reliance on Crown corporations to pay its bills, along with its methods of reporting and accounting,...
Project put big numbers in context
The StarPhoenix editorial Think tank lacks thought (SP, Jan. 27) about the Frontier Centre's Responsible Budgeting project explained that trying to compare the amount of money that a provincial government spends on health care or housing to the amount spent by the...
1st Annual Responsible Budgeting Report
Responsible Budgeting is a new project by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy aimed at giving citizens a broader understanding of how provincial and territorial governments receive and spend money in relatable terms. In a time when many governments are hard-pressed...
Featured News
Leon Fontaine – A Passionate Canadian Thought Leader – RIP
This past weekend, we learned of the tragic and unexpected passing of Pastor Leon Fontaine at 59 years of age. Leon was a gifted leader playing many roles both nationally and internationally. He was, with his wife Sally, the senior Pastors at Springs Church with...
Public Inquiries and Public Trust
Testimony before the Public Order Emergency Commission reveals the case for government invoking the Emergencies Act is either weak or very weak. The Prime Minister was, in fact, opposed to members of his cabinet or senior public health officials meeting with protest...
What’s Occupying Wall Street?: The protestors have a point, if not the right target.
In the matter of Occupy Wall Street, the allegedly anticapitalist movement that’s been camped out in lower Manhattan for the past few weeks and has inspired copycat protests from Boston to Los Angeles, we have some sympathy. Really? Well, yeah.
Manitoba Parties Ignore Europe Debt Crisis: Spending and borrowing platforms out of touch with new reality
Manitoba politicians are ignoring the European debt crisis and the U.S. credit downgrading the present Manitoba election, which is that high deficits, padded public sectors and early retirement ages are unsustainable in the long term.
Sheppard Subway Debacle Shows Why Cities Need More Autonomy
Toronto voters elected Rob Ford on a platform that included a Sheppard subway extension. Since this conflicts with an agreement between the provincial government and the previous mayor, funding may not be available and the project may fall by the wayside. This is a perfect example of why municipalities need full autonomy over infrastructure, and taxing powers to pay for it without going cap in hand to upper levels of government.
The Price of Anger: Killing the HST will cost B.C. 100,000 jobs
Voters in British Columbia exercised their democratic right in a referendum to kill the HST. Angry at a tax introduced only weeks after the last election, the voter’s fury has been expressed in a ballot by a margin of 55% to 45%. The HST will be extinguished and the province will return to the previous retail sales tax.
The Iron Triangle Roots of Toronto’s Budget Crisis
Interest groups on both the right and the left are making balancing Toronto’s budget virtually impossible by resisting much needed budget cuts, which are possible to implement if politicians are willing to stand up to the vested interests.
Canada Once Triumphed Over Its Growing Budget
Professor David Henderson tells the story of Canada’s triumph over budget deficits in the 1990s, and explains that even severe deficit problems can be resolved through real cuts to government spending and without major tax increases.
BC HST – Moving Onto Plan B
It is time for the government to move onto a new plan to update the PST to account for the service economy.
Cutting Tax Expenditures
In this article looking at tax expenditures, there are some interesting ideas that merit some discussion.
Cuts, Not Tax Hikes, the Way to go
The author of a study applauding the Canadian government’s approach to reaching fiscal balance in the 1990s says jurisdictions such as New Brunswick should take note and balance the books without major tax hikes.