Oct 19 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Personal income tax revenue shot up by nearly $10-billion last year according to a federal government report that attributes the gain to a strengthening economy and the ripple effect of tax changes aimed at raising more money from high-income earners. Finance Canada will release its annual financial report on Friday, which will provide the final […]
Oct 18 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Canadians are strongly opposed to allowing lobbyists to buy their way into exclusive political fundraisers featuring party leaders, according to a new Nanos Research survey. The Globe and Mail reported last month that the Liberal Party frequently allows lobbyists to attend what it calls “Laurier Club” donor-appreciation events, which feature Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or […]
Oct 16 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — The federal government is rejecting opposition calls for its electoral reform bill to be amended to subject political parties to federal privacy laws. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould appeared Monday as the last scheduled witness before the Procedure and House Affairs Committee dives into a marathon effort this week to review and vote on more […]
Oct 12 2018 — Bill Curry — Canada is pushing the G20 to speed up its timeline for setting new rules for taxing the digital economy, but will not take action before an international consensus emerges. The European Union and Australia are considering interim measures that would change the tax rules for large digital companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook but […]
Sep 24 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — The official caucus of independent senators could soon wield a majority as Prime Minster Justin Trudeau named two more senators on Monday. Beverley Busson, Canada’s first female RCMP commissioner, and Saskatchewan business leader Marty Klyne were appointed Monday as independent senators. Mr. Klyne is Cree Métis and a former publisher of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and […]
Sep 23 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — A federally appointed task force of industry leaders has warned the Trudeau government that corporate tax cuts in the United States are hurting Canadian competitiveness, but some executives on the panel caution against a simple match of the U.S. tax package. Business leaders representing six sectors − advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technologies, digital industries, health […]
Sep 21 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — The House of Commons ethics committee will launch a review of federal conflict-of-interest and lobbying laws, including a look at the concerns that arise when lobbyists and political parties mix. The all-party committee made the decision Thursday during a closed meeting to decide on its fall agenda. The simultaneous review of the Lobbying Act and […]
Sep 19 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Members of the Commons ethics committee will meet this week to consider a review of Canada’s conflict of interest and lobbying laws after a Globe and Mail report found lobbyists are regularly attending Liberal fundraisers. The Lobbying Act is overdue for a mandatory five-year review by a House of Commons committee. A review of the […]
Sep 13 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads into the fall sitting of Parliament with a focus on ticking off campaign promises while responding to major outside events such as U.S. NAFTA demands and addressing illegal immigration. Mr. Trudeau decided over the summer not to prorogue Parliament, which would have given the government an opportunity to present a […]
Sep 13 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says “frosty” relations continue with Ottawa after the Prime Minister rejected a request to shelve the national carbon pricing plan. Mr. Moe made the comments Wednesday following a private meeting with Justin Trudeau at the Saskatoon hotel where federal Liberal MPs are gathered this week for a caucus meeting just days […]
Sep 4 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Seventeen per cent of Canadians say they are open to voting for a new conservative party led by Maxime Bernier, according to a Nanos Research survey conducted for The Globe and Mail. The poll also found that 70 per cent would not consider supporting Mr. Bernier’s party, while 12 per cent were unsure. The former […]
Aug 28 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Justin Trudeau’s new mandate letters to cabinet suggest the Prime Minister is not happy with the slow rollout of billions in promised federal infrastructure cash. The Prime Minister’s Office released new mandate letters on Tuesday that were provided to the 10 ministers who received new assignments as a result of last month’s cabinet shuffle. The […]
Aug 27 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — The Liberal government’s tax on Canada’s top 1 per cent failed to produce the promised billions in new revenue in its first year, as high-income earners actually paid $4.6-billion less in federal taxes. The Liberal Party’s campaign platform said a new top tax bracket would raise nearly $3-billion a year, but an analysis of recently […]
Aug 22 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — The Parliamentary Budget Officer says delays in rolling out the Liberal government’s centrepiece infrastructure program are largely due to provinces reducing their own spending. In a new report, Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette points the finger at provincial governments for the fact that about $3.6-billion in federal spending that the Liberals had promised to spend […]
Jul 25 2018 — Bill Curry — Globe and Mail — Members of Parliament are increasingly overwhelmed by the mountain of expectations they face in their ridings, according to an in-depth look at the lives of some of Canada’s elected representatives in the 2011-15 Commons. Titled “Beyond the Barbecue,” the second of three reports from the Samara Centre for Democracy is based on exit interviews with […]