Taxes

BC is giving away its natural gas

Nov 21, 2012
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In September, when the BC government tabled its First Quarterly Report on the BC Budget the big story was on plummeting natural gas royalties, which means cuts to public services in order to keep the budget balance in check. As the update states on page 6: The deterioration in natural gas royalty revenue is the main… View Article

HST vs MSP: why are only some increases revolting?

Nov 3, 2012
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Vaughn Palmer had an interesting piece in the Vancouver Sun yesterday. In a piece entitled “Dix agenda bows to post-HST reality,” Palmer writes that the NDP, if elected next May, will be forced to keep its tax increases modest, and that this is the legacy of the HST battle that raged after the last election:… View Article

Time to Rethink The Way We Fund Higher Education

Oct 9, 2012
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This September, like every year, a new group of high school graduates headed to college or university to pursue higher education. But today’s generation of students is in for a very different experience from the ones their parents had. On campuses across the country shiny new buildings are popping up, bearing corporate logos or the… View Article

Expert Panel on Business Taxation sides with local governments

Sep 26, 2012
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Hundreds of mayors, municipal councilors and regional district directors are meeting this week in Victoria at the annual gathering of the Union of BC Municipalities. And not surprisingly, one of the major topics of discussion in the first three days has been the taxes local governments collect to provide their services. The local government leaders… View Article

What’s Next for BC’s Carbon Tax?

Sep 10, 2012
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The Minister leading up BC’s Carbon Tax Review, Kevin Falcon, may be gone – his departure came just as the deadline for submissions was closing – but the carbon tax lives on. For now. Back in 2008 when the carbon tax was announced, it was scheduled to rise from an initial level of $10 per… View Article

Canadians want higher taxes from the federal budget

Mar 29, 2012
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The Globe and Mail released the results of a new poll they conducted on what Canadian priorities are for the upcoming budget. The findings seem to have stumped at least some of the journalists, judging by their account: What stood out most was the across-the-board call for higher taxes. Yes, you read that right. Respondents… View Article

TransLink Funding and Governance (Yet Again)

Mar 8, 2012
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I always smile when I think of the provincial negotiator Peter Cameron’s comments when we were wrapping up the final details in the transit funding and governance negotiations leading to the creation of Translink. We all thought we had a good agreement. MetroVancouver would be given broad responsibilities to plan and deliver transit services, develop… View Article

Kevin Falcon’s narrow take on tax options

Jan 28, 2012
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BC Finance Minister Kevin Falcon says he is keen to take a fresh look at the BC tax system. He is welcoming new ideas, and he even wants your opinion. He has struck an “expert” panel to review BC’s tax regime, and in early January the government launched an online tool that the public can… View Article