Posts Categorized: Canadian governments

Quebec bucks the trend

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy, Canadian governments, Uncategorized.

Description: While Saskatchewan, Alberta and the federal government in Ottawa have all delivered budgets with big planned deficits in recent weeks, last week the Province of Quebec issued a balanced budget. The budget also promised an income tax cut for Quebec citizens. Could this have anything to do with a coming election in 2018? Date:… Read more »

Asset recycling

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Canadian governments.

Description: Asset Recycling is a fancy phrase  Canadian  governments are now using for what we used to call privatization – another invented word that grated on many when it entered the vocabulary. Asset recycling means that governments will sell off older ‘legacy’ capital assets – like in Ontario’s partial sale of Ontario Hydro – in… Read more »

Tough budget

Posted by & filed under Canadian governments, Personal Tax.

Description: Canada’s oil producing provinces are facing pressures on their finances with decreasing royalty revenues. This past week, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador released its budget for 2016-17, showing an increase in a range of taxes and fees. This included an increase in the Harmonized Sales Tax as well as a special deficit reduction… Read more »

‘Investing’ in that deficit?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Canadian governments.

Description: This past week Justin Trudeau’s government released its first budget, showing a planned deficit of nearly $30 billion for the next fiscal year. While Finance Minister Bill Morneau spoke of “investments in the future of Canada,” the Opposition drew attention to the fact that the deficit far outstripped the $10 billion figure Mr. Trudeau… Read more »

Tax Expenditures

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Canadian governments.

Description: Have you ever heard of tax expenditures? Maybe you know them by some of their other names, such as the Public Transit Tax Credit or the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit. These tax subsidies, offered to select groups of Canadians – often those in higher income groups – tend to fly under the radar. Unlike normal … Read more »

BC Budget takes action on house prices

Posted by & filed under Canadian governments, Personal Tax.

Description: Last week this blog featured a discussion on the shadow flipping phenomenon in BC, examining some of the ethical issues around the over-heated housing market. In this week’s provincial budget, the BC government took a number of steps to ease the pain. One of the efforts is a tax-break on the Property Transfer Tax… Read more »

Where are the savings?

Posted by & filed under Canadian governments, Managerial Accounting.

Description: Federal Auditor General Michael Ferguson released his latest report on Tuesday. One of the key findings seems to be around the relatively new department, Shared Services Canada, founded in 2012. Shared Services Canada has a mandate to consolidate various information services throughout the government’s 43 departments by 2020, but Mr. Ferguson’s work points out… Read more »

Is it too small to measure?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Canadian governments.

Description: The Ontario government has delivered close to $1.5 billion in support to business since 2004. But Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk revealed last week that the government can’t tell its citizens whether or not all this funding has produced jobs or economic growth. The province’s minister responsible for the economic development portfolio countered that… Read more »

Watching the watchdogs

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Canadian governments.

Description: The Province of New Brunswick certainly seems to have its share of fiscal challenges, after having run deficits for several years. Last week the Province began looking at another cost-cutting measure: reducing the number of independent legislative officers. Legislative officers include the Auditor General and the Ombudsman. New Brunswick has nine of these officers… Read more »