Canada needs to throw off the yoke of economic complacency to play in the big leagues
Canada, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will soon host G7 leaders in Charlevoix, Que., with members are poised to descend on the region from June 8-9. Much has changed since members first got together in 1975 at the Château de Rambouillet, situated outside of Paris. Back then, the G6—minus Canada, which was not yet part […]
Could this year’s Charlevoix talkfest be the last of the G7 summits?
OTTAWA—Conceived as a kind of fireside chat among the leaders of the biggest industrial democracies, the first high-level international “summit” was hosted by French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing at the Chateau de Rambouillet outside Paris in 1975. While the need to deal with the economic crisis set off by the 1973-74 oil shock was urgent […]
Feds assembling Indigenous advisory team ahead of Indian Act reform
The federal government is putting together an Indigenous advisory panel to help it navigate what are sure to be complicated discussions over how to remove gender discrimination from—and make broader changes to—the Indian Act. After the government compromised on Senate-led amendments, Bill S-3 passed in December allowing all women to pass Indian status down to […]
Canada’s banking sector must innovate or risk falling behind, say prestigious Donner Prize-winning authors
Following their Donner Prize win on May 15 for the best public policy book by a Canadian author, Patricia Meredith and James Darroch say their hope is for the banking industry to adapt to new payment technology especially to help small- and medium-sized businesses. The prestigious $50,000 prize is given annually to a book that helps widen […]
Private corporation tax proposals could make financing conditions worse for small business
Last summer, the federal government announced a series of tax proposals aimed at making private corporations “pay their fair share of tax.” After a contentious consultation process, a revised version of the new rules came forward in the February 2018 budget. The reaction to the budget proposals has been relatively muted, and, on balance, positive, […]
How Canada can kick-start the engine of global innovation and entrepreneurship
In order to end poverty, reduce inequalities, and have any chance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the world needs new ways of thinking. Diagnoses of poverty that ignore underlying flaws in social, economic, and political systems, and the simplistic solutions they produce, do not work. In fact, badly conceived short-term interventions can distort markets, […]
Scheer says he and PBO on same page on $600-million-plus cost estimate of his bill
A new report from the parliamentary budget officer estimates Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s proposed parental tax credit could cost the federal government as much as $868.6-million in the first fiscal year, if implemented—a figure the Conservatives say was close to their own estimate and shows that their costing process is more accurate than the Liberals’. […]
As ISG numbers swell, Senate grapples with how to divvy up caucus budgets
The Independent Senators Group—the largest collective in the Red Chamber—will have some extra money to work with this year, but not as much as the Conservative caucus or the three-person government team. Though they may not agree on how the money should be allocated, Senators from all sides say there should be a deeper examination […]
Central vote shifts accountability, means MPs must approve $7-billion before program plans in place, critics say
Critics warn the $7-billion central vote in the main estimates on more than 220 budget measures that haven’t made it through the Treasury Board’s vetting process means MPs will no longer get the same level of information on programs before they vote, weakening scrutiny and creating a situation where Parliament can only examine money after […]
Duncan dishes on unmuzzling scientists, diversity around the research table, and data security
Coming off a so-called “science budget” that infused $4-billion into Canada’s science and research community and $2.8-billion to renew federal science labs, you could say it’s been a pretty good start to 2018 for Science Minister Kirsty Duncan. Federal departments will have a model policy on science integrity by the end of the year in […]
