CCPA Policy Note

Entries Tagged as 'tax cuts'

There is more to good economic policy than protecting the interests of employers

May 6th, 2009 · · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Employment & labour, Environment, resources & sustainability

Next week’s election will take place in the midst of an economic crisis which hit our province seemingly out of the blue last fall and hit us hard, causing 69,000 job losses between November and March (the April numbers will be released on Friday, May 8, and are expected to be just as grim as [...]

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To Tax or Not to Tax — That is Not the Question!

April 27th, 2009 · · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability

It was disappointing to read Mark Jaccard’s sensational, but grossly misleading forecast of massive job loss if the NDP eliminates the carbon tax. Sure, if the NDP axes the tax and implements a cap and trade on large emitters to extract all the GHG reductions needed to achieve B.C.’s targets, there would be a huge [...]

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The NDP Platform and BC's Economic Challenges

April 20th, 2009 · · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Climate change, Economy, Provincial budget & finance

Below is an oped of mine that was done at the request of the Vancouver Sun and that ran in today’s paper. Unfortunately, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the last two paragraphs were cut off, leaving the oped hanging. I put them back in below, and have requested that the online version be [...]

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Beggar-thy-neighbour politics in Metro Vancouver

March 13th, 2009 · · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Municipalities, Taxes

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts made the news this week calling for property-tax-free zones in Surrey to attract new business to her city. Of course, in a climate where businesses are not making new investments, this will at best lure businesses from other parts of Metro Vancouver. Economists call these beggar-thy-neighbour policies because you can only [...]

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Partisan claims and the BC economy

February 23rd, 2009 · · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy

BC’s recession and election together mean things are going to get nasty in the political realm. Already we seeing plenty of sneering commentary from our esteemed cabinet ministers. Consider this jibe from Colin Hansen, the Minister of Finance, in his annual address to the brethren of Sigma Chi: “I want you to think about one [...]

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