Women doctors, entrepreneurs say proposed tax changes could make it hard for young professionals to go on maternity leave
Female professionals and entrepreneurs say they’re concerned the federal government’s proposed tax changes targeting two tax loopholes will make it more difficult for them to take maternity leave. Beverly Johnson, national president of the Federation of Medical Women in Canada, told The Hill Times that without providing financial help for female doctors who operate their […]
Two Senate committees at standstill, as membership negotiations ensue
Members of a pair of Senate committees are still cooling their heels after the summer break, as negotiations over how committee leadership positions are allocated play out. Former Conservative Senators Daniel Lang, chair of the National Security and Defence Committee, and Bob Runciman as well as former Liberal Senator George Baker, chair and deputy chair […]
Behind the scenes of how Canada’s ‘dream team’ negotiates NAFTA
Every few weeks this fall, roughly 300 Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans descend on a hotel in one of their respective capitals for about five days. While lobbyists chat in the hotel coffee shop or restaurant and reporters troll for tidbits of news, trade negotiators are holed up in hotel board rooms, sometimes 20 to a […]
Most unionized PS workers have contracts, but mental health, wages sticking points for holdouts
Seven federal public service union groups have been negotiating new contracts for so long that even if they reach a deal within the next month they will be back negotiating their next collective agreements come mid-2018, say unions. The Treasury Board negotiates 27 contracts for which it is considered the employer with 15 different core […]
Economy doing well, but year-on-year federal deficits leading to creeping debt is concerning, say experts
Canada’s federal finances appear to be on a solid footing, but fiscal experts say the Liberals need to be concerned about paying down debt in the long term to remain fiscally responsible to Canadians. Canada’s federal debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is sustainable at its existing level of 33.2 per cent. The federal government saw a higher-than-expected […]
Feds have to ‘tread carefully’ on cultural policy after Quebec blowback, say political players
Quebecers are more likely to be invested in the idea of Canada having a distinct cultural identity that needs protecting, which could possibly spell political trouble for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and the Trudeau Liberals if the implementation of the government’s recently announced cultural policy doesn’t find the right balance, say cultural and political players. […]
Vox populi on tax reforms
In response to business groups’ fierce campaigning against proposed tax changes first floated in July, the Liberal government announced Oct. 16 the first of a set of revisions to smooth over concerns. In July, Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, Ont.) had proposed changes to close what he suggested were three tax loopholes allowing high-earning […]
Taxation is more than a fight between good and evil
The last few weeks have been challenging for some ministers in the Trudeau cabinet. Finance Minister Bill Morneau has faced strong opposition to his small-business tax reform, while Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has struggled to explain why an American company, Netflix, does not have to collect the GST, though Canadian companies offering similar services do. It […]
Canada’s most-lobbied staffers drive policy tied to federal purse
Canada’s top-lobbied political staffers have “panache,” and are “affable” and “rigorous,” according to those who’ve sat down with the men who are the government’s most-sought officials based on communications reports filed in the federal lobbying registry this year. The three most in-demand staffers are all policy advisers to ministers in important departments connected to Liberal […]
Finance Committee prepping for 2018 budget gets an earful on tax changes: chair
A Liberal MP who chairs the House Finance Committee says concerns about the government’s proposed tax changes have been voiced “quite vividly” in almost every meeting during the committee’s ongoing listening tour to help it inform the 2018 federal budget. Wayne Easter (Malpeque, P.E.I.) said concerns about the Liberal government’s small-business tax changes have come […]
