Taxes

More twists and turns in the dubious economics of LNGs

Feb 8, 2013
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This morning the newspapers bring news that the natural gas industry is seeking tax breaks for developing liquified natural gas (LNG) plants. Apparently the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is asking for increased capital cost allowances , which would cost the federal government as much as $2 billion over seven years in foregone revenues. The… View Article

Response to a tax critic: the sky will not fall

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On January 29, the Vancouver Sun ran an opinion piece by Iglika Ivanova and myself entitled “The Case for Higher Taxes.” Last Monday (February 4), the Sun ran an opinion piece in response by Andrew Wilkinson (a former deputy minister currently seeking the BC Liberal nomination in Vancouver-Quilchena) entitled “Wave goodbye to skilled labourers.” Today, the… View Article

Seeking a Real Families First Agenda this First BC Family Day

Feb 7, 2013
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By Seth Klein and Adrienne Montani On February 11, British Columbians will enjoy a well-deserved new stat holiday. With the inaugural Family Day, Premier Christy Clark has made good on a promise made during her bid for the BC Liberal leadership. The winter stretch needed a new long weekend, and many will appreciate this new-found… View Article

The dubious case for casinos

Jan 22, 2013
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I got way off my usual research agenda this morning for a business panel on CBC radio. The topic was the economics of casinos, the result of the City of Surrey voting down a new casino proposal. I have often disparagingly compared stock markets to casinos, but in fact I knew relatively little about the… View Article

What’s next for BC’s carbon tax?

Jan 14, 2013
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An oped of mine was published by the Vancouver Sun today: What’s next for BC’s carbon tax? Marc Lee Climate change forced its way onto the political agenda in 2012, as Hurricane Sandy ripped through the northeast United Stages just days before the election. And while action remains frustratingly slow, extreme weather disasters in the… View Article

Correction to carbon pricing paper

Jan 10, 2013
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An error has been found in my 2011 carbon pricing paper. In Table 2 on page 17 the results presented at the time of publication were per capita not, as stated, per household. Runs modeled using Statistics Canada’s Social Policy Simulation Database and Model (SPSD/M) for carbon tax must be done on a household basis…. View Article

A call for courageous leadership from BC parties in 2013

Jan 8, 2013
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As we head towards the May 2013 BC election, what I’d most love to hear from BC’s political leaders is evidence that they are ready to get serious about the defining issues of this era. In particular, I’m going to be looking for real leadership on the issues of climate change and inequality (what we… View Article

Polling on taxes – response to a critic

Dec 11, 2012
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On November 29, the CCPA released an opinion research study led by myself and Randy Galawan called Beyond the 1%: What British Columbians think about taxes, inequality and public services. The study involved an extensive online survey (poll) of a broad sample of British Columbians, conducted by Environics Research, and nine group interviews held in… View Article