Government Spending & Taxes

— Mar 28, 2024
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Can the Carbon Tax Be Reformed or Not?

As the federal carbon tax continues to rise, two new essays— Reforming the Federal Government's Carbon Tax Plan and Carbon Tax Is Beyond Redemption—make two opposing arguments, to retain the tax (after fixing it) and to scrap it.

— Mar 26, 2024
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The Size of Government in Canada in 2022

The Size of Government in Canada in 2022 measures federal, provincial, and local government spending in each province as a share of the economy (GDP) from 2007 to 2022 (the most recent year of comparable data) finding that government size grew in every province except Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan during that period. In 2022, the size of government relative to the economy as a whole across Canada ranged from a low of 26.8 per cent in Alberta to a high of 63 per cent in Nova Scotia--and was 40.5 of Canada’s total economy.

— Mar 21, 2024
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School Spending and Performance in Canada and Other High-Income Countries

School Spending and Performance in Canada and Other High-Income Countries is a new study that finds higher per-student spending levels are not associated with stronger academic achievement. In fact, among the provinces, Saskatchewan was the highest per-student spender but ranked 8th out of the 10 provinces in scores on the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Manitoba was the second highest per-student spender and recorded the lowest PISA scores nationwide. Conversely, British Columbia was the lowest spender per student in Canada and achieved the fourth-highest PISA scores.

— Mar 19, 2024
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Enhancing Economic Growth Through Federal Personal Income Tax Reform is a new study that finds the federal government can reduce the top marginal income tax rate to 29.0 per cent—where it was before the Trudeau government increased it—and completely eliminate the three middle income tax rates of 20.5 per cent, 26.0 per cent, and 29.0 per cent by reforming and simplifying the tax code and removing a host of special carve outs, credits and other tax measures.

— Mar 12, 2024
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The Cost of Business Subsidies in Canada: Updated Edition is a new study that finds Canadian governments spent $52 billion in 2022 subsidizing businesses across all provinces—including federal, provincial, and local spending.

— Feb 29, 2024
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Quebec Premiers and Provincial Government Spending

Quebec Premiers and Provincial Government Spending is a new study that finds Premier François Legault holds the record for the highest per-person spending levels in Quebec—even excluding COVID-related spending—at $14,487 (2021) and $13,705 (2020), and Legault has overseen the third-highest rate of average annual per person spending growth at 7.3 per cent.

— Feb 21, 2024
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British Columbia’s Current Spending Peak: Highest in History, Highest Growth in Canada finds that the B.C. government’s per-person spending in 2022/23, the latest year of available data, was nearly 20 per cent higher than in 2019/20.

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