Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston put a stop to a pay hike for MLAs and cut his own salary. Now for Part 2
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston got a big hit for taxpayers by putting a stop to a pay hike for MLAs and cutting his own salary. Now Houston has an opportunity to convert his single into a home run by ending the automatic tax hikes associated with bracket creep. Last month, an independent panel created…
Taxpayers could get soaked with higher taxes and reckless government spending
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s promise to hand the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more powers could be a dangerous gateway to higher taxes and runaway government spending. Hardworking taxpayers wouldn’t trust one person selected by someone else to unilaterally manage their household expenses and retirement savings. Yet, that’s essentially what Ford might have up his…
But they should
When it comes to scrapping the Trudeau government’s carbon tax, the hardest decision Conservative leadership hopefuls have to make is whether they would scrap it before or after lunch on their first day if elected prime minister. The bigger question is whether a Conservative government would scrap the impending second carbon tax. All candidates are…
It’s time to tell the federal government they’re cut off
If you thought the taxes you paid on your favourite case of beer or bottle of wine or liquor were high today, the Trudeau government is now saying, “Hold my beer!” Imagine hearing two bartenders whispering about running up your bill. That would probably lead to an animated conversation if not incite some sort of…
The government must follow through on its promise to re-index the tax system to inflation
It’s been three years since the Alberta government implemented a “temporary” pause to the indexation of non-refundable income tax credits and tax bracket thresholds – a policy that has resulted in nearly $647 million in additional taxes being paid by Albertans between 2020 and 2022, according to a recent report by the University of Calgary’s…
The Trudeau government needs to rein in the years of overspending, set a concrete timeline, and plan to balance the budget
There’s great irony in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland touting the government’s “fiscal restraint” on the same day taxpayers find out that the governor general and her fellow passengers racked up an $80,000 bill on in-flight catering. “I know that my fiscal prudence surprised many,” said Freeland during her keynote address on affordability. “This fiscal restraint was…
Will cost each Albertan between $105 and $331, depending on income, by the end of the year
As Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gets ready to step away from the premier’s office, he should go out the way he came in: sticking up for taxpayers. To do that, Kenney needs to wash away the unsightly blemish on his tax-fighting record: bracket creep. Kenney started his career roughly three decades ago as the Canadian…
Why has the premier shied away from delivering tax relief?
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is leaving the middle class behind. Until this year’s cost of living crisis, Higgs was one of the best premiers in the country when it came to managing his province’s finances. Unlike any other province, Higgs managed to keep New Brunswick’s books balanced throughout the pandemic. Thanks to Higgs’ prudence,…
Hardworking Canadians are going to have to drag this government kicking and screaming to get any relief at the pumps
By Franco Terrazzano and Kris Sims The Trudeau Liberals must be patting themselves on the back every time they pass a gas station; after all, these unaffordable pump prices are precisely what they want. Inflation hasn’t been this high since the Pierre Elliot Trudeau government back in the early 80s. Canadians are struggling to afford…
Supply chain problems, aging demographics and the push for net zero will drive up government spending
The era of low interest rates and inflation has ended, and now is the time for governments to show restraint. But recent precedent suggests that’s unlikely. Canadian year-over-year inflation hit 7.7 per cent in May, the highest in nearly 40 years, and I predict it will go still higher. Ten years ago, Parliamentary Budget Officer…