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.
Taxation
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.
Featured News
Military Conquest is Meaningless Without True Social Renewal
The hasty, defeatist and craven withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan in August has compelled the so-called “civilized” Western nations and their leaders to confront the failures and errors of the past 20 years, which resemble those of earlier conflicts....
What Life Looks Like Outside COVID-19 Hysteria
Travel and work over the past two years have brought me to many different jurisdictions. What continues to strike me is the way the responses to COVID-19 have been varied, arbitrary and often draconian. I look back at Canada and see raging debates over mask mandates,...
Cheap, Dirty, But Maybe Healthy
If our parties are serious organizations, why don’t they ask for contributions from their members and sympathizers, like Barack Obama did? His expensive campaign was in good part financed by millions of modest private donations via the Internet.
Yes Virginia, Santa Claus Should Stop Funding Political Parties
Regardless of any individual gain or loss for a political party, ending an annual subsidy that allows a separatist party to thrive would be a positive action to take for Canada.
Restoring Peter Lougheed’s Original Vision
The Alberta government needs to make regular deposits into the Heritage Fund says the Frontier Centre’s Director of Research, Mark Milke. Since Alberta became debt-free, the province has taken in over $47-billion in resource revenues while depositing only $3.9 billion into the Heritage Fund.
Media Release: Restoring Peter Lougheed’s Original Vision
The Alberta government needs to make regular deposits into the Heritage Fund says the Frontier Centre’s Director of Research, Mark Milke. Since Alberta became debt-free, the province has taken in over $47-billion in resource revenues while depositing only $3.9 billion into the Heritage Fund.
Avoiding the 1930s
Nothing is sacred. In times of a world war or a Great Depression, balanced budgets at any cost would be undesirable. But the Conservative defense of deficits is, as of now, indefensible.
The 2008 Local Government Performance Index – Ontario Regional Report
Cities are listed in alphabetical order: Ajax Aurora Barrie Belleville Brampton Brantford Burlington Caledon Cambridge Chatham-Kent Clarington Cornwall Greater Sudbury Guelph Halton Hills Hamilton Kawartha Lakes Kingston Kitchener London Markham Milton...
The 2008 Local Government Performance Index – Quebec Regional Report
Cities are listed in alphabetical order: Montreal
The 2008 Local Government Performance Index – BC Regional Report
Cities are listed in alphabetical order: Abbotsford Burnaby Chilliwack Coquitlam Delta Kamloops Kelowna Langley Maple Ridge Nanaimo New Westminster North Vancouver Port Coquitlam Prince George Richmond Saanich Surrey Vancouver...
The 2008 Local Government Performance Index – Atlantic Canada Regional Report
Cities are listed in alphabetical order: Newfoundland: St. John's Nova Scotia: Halifax New Brunswick: Frederickton Moncton Saint John