Category Canada – Politics
Economic policy advice for the Liberals: A conversation with the Cheshire Cat
There are reports that the federal Liberals are going ahead with some sort of conference that is to generate some sort of intellectual infrastructure for an eventual platform for an election, to be held – if things continue to go according to current form – in 2012. So this seems to be as good a […]
Stephen Leacock on the benefits of economic stimulus
It has come to the attention of the federal Liberals that ridings who are represented by Conservatives are receiving a disproportionate share of the monies spent under the aegis of the fiscal stimulus: Ontario was allocated about $1.1 billion in Infrastructure Stimulus Fund money, translating to about $90 for each Ontarian (according to the 2006 […]
The PBO and the OLO
Michael Ignatieff has been talking recently about the importance of an independent Parliamentary Budget Office, and Kevin Milligan at Support the OPBO is paying attention: Ignatieff takes up the cause More support of the PBO from the OLO Go read them; Kevin's doing a great job of commenting on the various issues surrounding the idea […]
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
It is a season in which even the most jaded observers of federal politics can only look on in slack-jawed, googly-eyed wonder. Here is a press release from the NDP web site: Liberals on board with Conservative tax hikes: Despite publicly opposing the Conservatives’ HST plan, Michael Ignatieff is now endorsing it. Ontario Premier Dalton […]
Why did the opposition parties let Stephen Harper outplay them so badly on Employment Insurance?
It appears that we will have some sort of modification to Employment Insurance. The main measure involves an extension of benefits to some EI recipients who may be at risk of exhausting their benefits, and that – and the prospect of an election – appears to be enough for the NDP and the Bloc. For […]
Quebec: An oasis of sanity in a desert of GST/HST silliness
The Charest government is floating the idea of increasing the QST – which has been harmonised with the GST since the very beginning – by another percentage point (in addition to the one-point increase announced in last spring's budget) as a way of dealing with the post-recession deficit. This is clearly the right thing to […]
Why does Senator Sharon Carstairs think that the Parliamentary Budget Office shouldn’t make its reports public?
Anyone? Kevin Milligan at Support the OPBO would like to know. So would I. The relevant legislation appears to be silent on the matter.
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part VI: Climate change
The NDP has traditionally had a certain amount of credibility in its concern for environmental issues, and it can fairly fairly credited for dragging many environmental issues to to the political forefront. But that's not the same thing as being able to come up with sensible policy prescriptions to deal with the problems it identifies. […]
What is the problem that EI reform is supposed to solve?
If asked, people might say something along the lines of this Toronto Star editorial: The rolls of the unemployed in Canada continue to grow… Many or most of them won't be eligible for employment insurance (EI), due to the program's Byzantine eligibility requirements. Very alarming – especially that word "most". But how do we know […]
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part V: Give money to low-income households
Here is what I would like some staffer to ask next time NDP strategists are kicking around ideas for goods to subsidise or services that governments to provide at a discount in order to advance their agenda of reducing poverty and inequality: "Why don't we just give low-income households money and let them spend it […]
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