Not too many years ago, Americans could get away with cracking jokes about spendthrift Canada, its weak dollar and the long wait for MRIs. These days, the joke is on Americans, as Canada’s government has cleaned up its fiscal mess and focused on private economic growth.
Taxation
Saskatchewan Budget 2012: The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral
Saskatchewan is in an enviable fiscal position. The government has now delivered a balanced budget with significant spending growth. While imperfect, it should help nudge the province in the right direction.
What the Federal Budget Means for the West
The federal budget failed to reign in spending, but did contain a number of policy shifts that will help the three westernmost provinces. Changes to E.I., immigration, and resource regulations will be particularly beneficial.
Incredible Shrinking Government’ Message More Important than Ever
Headlines inform but don’t necessarily reveal. Time reveals. Based on headlines alone, most people would probably assume that Canada has a bigger federal government than it had 50 years ago. But we don’t – not, at any rate, in relative terms.
Featured News
Supply Chain Strains Could Cause Shortages and Hoarding
Supply chain problems, both international and domestic, could create shortages and hoarding, and make recent inflationary pressures even worse. Although problems with our ports and railways may beg policy solutions, the short-term response of everyday Canadians should...
New Book: Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis
CALGARY, AB, December 17, 2021 - The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has just released a new book, Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis written by Susan Martinuk. Susan is an accomplished, nationally recognized researcher and writer who has...
Just Call It ‘Cap-and-Tax’
The chief political virtue of cap-and-trade — a complex scheme to reduce greenhouse gases — is its complexity. This allows its environmental supporters to shape public perceptions in essentially deceptive ways. Cap-and-trade would act as a tax, but it’s not described as a tax.
In Defense of GDP
While GDP may not be perfect as a measurement, alternatives like the Canadian Index of Wellness are comparatively top-down and blunt.
Dear God, Send the Politicians Home
Let’s hope the political class heads home for summer early lest they “stimulate” anything more, put us into additional debt, and do more damage to our finances, language, and to clear-headedness.
American Capitalism Gone With A Whimper
The proud American will go down into his slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.
General Motors Holds A Mirror Up To America
Middle-class taxpayers worry they cannot afford to bail out companies like GM. Yet they worry they cannot afford to lose their jobs. Wilson’s edict, too, has been turned upside down: in many ways, what has been bad for GM has been bad for much of America.
The GM-Chrysler Bailout Tax
The cost of the auto bailout is soaring to $13-billion. This was not inevitable and the political class in Ottawa and Washington D.C. have made this perhaps the most expensive experiment ever in corporate welfare.
Great Right North
Reports last week that the recession is draining Social Security and Medicare funds were just one more reminder that the United States needs to fix its finances. For inspiration, why not look to Canada? Over the past few years, while U.S. politicians presided over huge increases in spending and debt, the Canadian government tightened its belt, slashed tax rates and balanced budgets.
The Problem With Free Parks
If Manitoba needs sound policy to navigate the global economic downturn, surely the provincial government can do better than shifting the costs of provincial parks from park users to taxpayers.
What If Arnold Had Seized the Moment?
While politicians debate whether this week’s rejection of various spending initiatives in California marks the beginning of an antitax insurgency, I can’t help but wonder what might have been had Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately pushed for reform upon taking office in 2003.