Saltwire Sadness

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Canadian Government, Financial Accounting, Marketing & Strategy.

Description: The Halifax Chronicle Herald is one of Canada’s oldest continuously publishing newspapers, but its future may be in jeopardy following news that its parent company, the Saltwire Network, is seeking creditor protection. Saltwire owes about $94 million, with about one third of that on the books of its largest creditor, Fiera Private Debt. Stephen… Read more »

News Deal with Google

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government.

Description: The government of Canada and online giant Google have finally reached a deal regarding use of Canadian news on the web. The deal comes three weeks before the federal government’s Bill C-18, the Online News Act, comes into effect. Google has agreed to pay $100 million a year to Canadian news organizations for use… Read more »

A Good Year for the Wealthy

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy, Canadian Government.

Description: According to Statistics Canada, 2021 was a good year for the wealthy. Canada’s top 1% of income earners saw their incomes go up by 9.4% that year, with the top 0.1% doing even better with an increase of 17.4%, pushing them to an average of nearly $2.1 million. Statistics Canada noted similar increases were… Read more »

13 Billion on Batteries

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government, Internal control, Student life.

Description: The Government of Canada is offering $13 billion in subsidies to Volkswagen to build the first auto battery plant in North America. The federal assistance is to be delivered through tax subsidies, contingent upon Volkswagen meeting agreed upon output targets. VW’s planned plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, is slated to open in 2027. It’s… Read more »

CRA Employees to Strike?

Posted by & filed under Canadian Government, Personal Tax.

Description: Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees and the Government of Canada are currently at a collective-bargaining impasse. Strike votes are taking place between now and April 7, right in the heart of tax season, when individuals and businesses are normally flooding the CRA call centres with taxation questions. Union President Marc Brière has noted that… Read more »

“Beyond Frustrating”

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government.

Description: The Government of Canada is scrambling to collect payroll over-payments from thousands of its employees before it runs out of time. These over-payments were generated by the much-maligned Phoenix payroll system, and, the statute of limitations to recover these amounts expires after six years. Phoenix went live in 2016 and problems with pay were… Read more »

Google Test-Blocks Canadians

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy, Canadian Government.

Description: In an apparent response to the federal government’s Online News Act, Google has blocked some Canadians from their news feeds. Google has called this a test, noting the company runs thousands of tests like this in any given year. The Act will force platforms like Google and Facebook to begin compensating media publishers for… Read more »

Doing Well in Ottawa

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government.

Description: McKinsey and Company, one of the world’s best known consulting firms, has been doing well in terms of its billings to the federal government in Ottawa. During Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s time as prime minister, McKinsey earned roughly $66 million in revenue from the Canadian taxpayer, with close to half of that amount in… Read more »

Phoenix Problems Persist

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Canadian Government.

Description: Well, the good news is that only 28% of federal government employees had an error in their pay during the fiscal year ended 31 March 2022. According to the federal auditor general, that is down from 47% in the prior year, indicating that, although results have improved, the maligned Phoenix pay system is far… Read more »