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If this government is truly serious about attracting foreign investors to Canada, the recipe isn't complicated: reduce taxes and streamline regulation.
03/26/2018 16:47 EDT
Mark Blinch / Reuters
The move recognized that market incentives are the best way to ensure Canadians get the cultural products they want.
12/20/2017 16:55 EST
Paul Daly/The Canadian Press
Canada funded Marine Atlantic to the tune of $338 million in 2015-16 — a full three-quarters of its $445-million annual budget.
11/15/2017 13:54 EST
Chris Wattie / Reuters
Last week, the Trudeau government announced a 'technical paper' on its proposed federal carbon tax which suggests it will mimic Alberta's carbon tax plan, quashing the optimism of those who believed the federal government when they said their carbon tax would be revenue neutral.
05/25/2017 09:00 EDT
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Canadians are more likely to Google on their phone while standing in a grocery aisle than carry around a folded-up food guide poster. Almost every grocery product is now labeled, disclosing how much sugar, fat, vitamins and calories are contained in each serving. This new reality calls into question why Canadians are paying millions to update a government diktat on what we should eat. And given the nutrition information is out there for all to see, why are we allowing faceless Ottawa bureaucrats to recommend what we should eat?
11/18/2016 08:06 EST
Mark Blinch / Reuters
Take the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which recently reached a tentative agreement with Canada Post. Even though Canada Post faces a pension shortfall of $6.2 billion, all reports suggest that CUPW did not make any concessions on defined-benefit pensions.
09/27/2016 03:40 EDT
Adrian Wyld/CP
New "independent" Senators could be emboldened to test out their new levels of "independence" -- particularly in the form of pushing back even harder on legislation passed by the House. Indeed, some people may even hope that happens. And if it does, it will be undermining the will of the House -- and by extension, Canadians.
08/15/2016 10:13 EDT
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Tokyo this week for a bilateral visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well a G7 leaders summit in nearby Ise-Shima. While increasing trade is a major focus of the Prime Minister's visit (Japan is Canada's fifth largest trading partner), Canadians should cross their fingers that Trudeau doesn't ask his Japanese counterpart for advice on fiscal policy and the virtues of massive infrastructure spending.
05/26/2016 04:53 EDT
Todd Korol via Getty Images
Corporate welfare teaches companies and regions that what's important is about getting your "fair cut" of "free" money. And when your cut isn't perceived as fair, it can turn a wasteful policy into a corrosive, emotional weapon to be used by those with regional grievances.
05/04/2016 04:57 EDT
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Progressive economist Jim Stanford invites us to reimagine Bombardier's demand for another taxpayer handout as an exciting opportunity for an "equity investment." In his view, focusing on the usual metrics for businesses -- such as "does the company make money?" or "can it actually sell the products it makes?" -- is evidence of a dangerous affliction he refers to as "market fundamentalism."
03/15/2016 04:26 EDT
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Quebec Economy Minister Jacques Daoust announced that the Quebec government would be "investing" $1.3 billion in taxpayer money in Bombardier's beleaguered CSeries aircraft line, and promptly turned around to prod the new Trudeau government in Ottawa to pony up a similar contribution.
12/07/2015 04:01 EST
Bombardier
Over the last 50 years, Bombardier has received $2.2 billion in federal government assistance -- of which Industry Canada advises only $543 million has been repaid. In short, if history is any guide, Bombardier is far more likely to be calling on taxpayers again shortly with its hands outstretched, than to actually mature into a bonafide competitive business.
11/17/2015 02:48 EST
