Description: An analysis by CBC of 53 Canadian public companies shows that over half of them have paid out dividends to shareholders while collecting the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). The point of the CEWS was to help these and other companies to keep their staff working while facing the economic crush of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Canadian Government
How About This?
Description: An opinion piece in the Globe and Mail this past week offered that cutting student debt may be an excellent policy alternative for generating entrepreneurship in Canada. Over the past few decades, government support for higher education has declined. Combine this with higher tuition and it means students are graduating with higher debt loads…. Read more »
Covid and Taxes
Description: There is no question that Canadian governments are spending borrowed money at a prodigious rate during this pandemic in order to support citizens and keep the economy moving. In an opinion piece in the Toronto Star, Daniel Tsai, a former government advisor who now lectures at Ryerson, says that throwing on a new series… Read more »
Aid for Students
Description: On April 22, the Prime Minister announced $9 billion in assistance for students who have found their summer employment options limited, or eliminated outright, by COVID-19. With summer camps shuttered, and traditional opportunities disappearing, students will be eligible to receive $1250 per month. While some will obviously appreciate the government’s action, others may question… Read more »
COVID-19 Hard on Lower Income Canadians
Description: We could soon be dealing with two million unemployed Canadians in the face of the COVID-19 virus. Canada has not seen unemployment rates like this in over 70 years. The story tells us that the job losses are not distributed very evenly, with about 40% of those making $14 an hour or less facing… Read more »
Run on EI
Description: During this last week approximately 500,000 Canadians filed a claim for Employment Insurance (EI). In the same week the previous year, only 27,000 filed. The corona virus has caused closures and layoffs throughout the land, prompting unemployed Canadians to see this form of assistance. Date: March 20, 2020 Source: theglobeandmail.com Link: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ottawa-receives-500000-new-applications-for-employment-insurance-as/ Discussion… Read more »
A Budget in 17 Minutes
Description: One unusual outcome of the current corona virus situation may have been the unusual co-operation at the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick on Friday. While budget debates are often long and perhaps divisive, this year in NB the budget and an additional bill passed in 17 minutes, with no one voting against the budget…. Read more »
Cost Climbing
Description: In 2018 the Canadian government purchased the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline for $4.5 billion of our tax dollars. Around that time, the total estimated cost to complete the pipeline was $7.4 billion. Now though, it appears that the total costs for Canadians will be somewhere in the range of $17 billion. The federal… Read more »
The Middle Class
Description: Did you hear the the Canadian government has given $50 million to MasterCard, a company that made $16 billion last year? The government response seems to be that this $50 million will create jobs and help the middle class. Of course, this new government has appointed a cabinet post for a minister of the… Read more »
Rich Or Poor?
Description: November was a bad month for Canadian employment with Canada losing over 70,000 jobs, while our neighbour to the south added over a quarter million. For Canada, this was our worst result in ten years. Financial Post Columnist Jack Mintz offers “that propping up consumer demand by running deficits and distributive tax policies is… Read more »