Description: The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) – the organization that manages the public sector pension funds in the western province – is coming under criticism for investing over $1 billion in the Alberta oil patch. A number of these investments have lost money, with one company collapsing despite a $60 million investment by AIMCo…. Read more »
Posts Categorized: Canadian governments
Hidden in Tax Expenditures
Description: If a government plans to spend money through grants or other expenditures, it is normally clearly disclosed as part of the budget process. But there is another class of “hidden” expenditures known as tax expenditures, a combination of various measures that don’t show up in the financial statements. This week the New Brunswick government… Read more »
Big Losses
Description: Ontario is considering changes to its marijuana sales model. In the past fiscal year, the Crown corporation handling sales of the newly legalized product lost $42 million. Ontario is not the only province to lose money. New Brunswick has also recorded millions in losses. Date: September 27, 2019 Source: thestar.com Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/2019/09/27/ontario-considering-alternative-to-pot-wholesale-model-sources.html Discussion points: … Read more »
Going DEEP
Description: Deep Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP) is going deep. The company is the driving force behind a 3.5 km deep well to be drilled in Estevan Saskatchewan. The well will generate geothermal energy from underground steam, providing a source of green power to the Western province. Funnily enough, DEEP’s deep well source was discovered… Read more »
Pension accounting costs big time!
Description: One of the big factors in pension accounting is the discount rate. For the last couple of years, the Auditor General of Canada has expressed concern that the federal government may be using a rate that is too high. The government has decided to respond to his concerns by adopting a higher rate, meaning… Read more »
Skating off with public money
Description: The competition was tight with a number of dubious entries. But the new $8.2 million skating rink on Parliament Hill took the top spot in the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s annual awards for federal government waste. This outdoor rink – a mere stone’s throw from the world’s longest skating rink, the Rideau Canal – works… Read more »
The Red Tape Blues
Description: Red tape continues to be a problem in Canadian jurisdictions. Perhaps the most humorous is a requirement in Quebec to post a notice to tell employees you are about to post a notice. This is among the finalists for Paperweight Award, an annual ‘competition’ sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses to highlight… Read more »
AG and Premier collide
Description: Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, Premier Stephen McNeil questioned the findings of provincial Auditor General Michael Pickup regarding a shortage of physicians in Nova Scotia. The Premier appeared to be saying that Mr. Pickup had strayed into the policy field in his audit of doctor shortages in Nova Scotia. He noted that if the Auditor… Read more »
How about those Bombardier bonuses?
Description: In an intriguing display of public outrage, approximately 200 protestors gathered outside Bombardier headquarters in Montreal to decry the bonuses granted to company executives while taxpayers have been bailing out the company. With both the federal and provincial governments kicking in over a billion dollars, citizens were outraged that the company opened up the… Read more »
Inventing Renovations
Description: And in a second accounting update from the small Province of New Brunswick, a recent investigation by the CBC has revealed that government officials invented renovations for over 2,000 residential properties in the province, creating big increases in tax assessments for the homeowners. An email revealed that government invented the renos when assessment officials… Read more »
Burnley Understanding Financial Accounting, 3rd Canadian Edition
Kimmel Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition
Weygandt Accounting Principles, 9th Canadian Edition
Kimmel Survey of Accounting, 2nd Edition
Kieso Intermediate Accounting, 13th Canadian Edition
Weygandt Managerial Accounting, 6th Canadian Edition
Farmer Cost Accounting, 1st Edition
Savage Accounting Information Systems, 1st Edition