A new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Sierra Club BC calls on the provincial government to scale up BC’s carbon tax, and makes a number of recommendations to make the tax more effective and fair.   “As currently structured, the BC carbon tax is increasing social inequality, while squandering revenues on […]

“The disparity in income between the rich and the poor is merely the survival of the fittest. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God.”      —John D. Rockefeller, 1894.  During the first 70 years that followed this pronouncement by one of the 19th-century’s leading robber barons, […]

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today held its 13th annual “Teddy Waste Awards” ceremony to recognize the best of the worst in government waste. CTF federal director, Kevin Gaudet acted as the Master of Ceremonies today at the black tie news conference on Parliament Hill. The CTF’s “Porky the Waste Hater” (pig mascot) and lovely guest hostess […]

$6.6 million The average compensation of Canada’s best-paid 100 CEOs in 2009. (Source) $42,988 The average wage for Canadians working full-time, year-round. (Source) 155 times How much the best-paid 100 CEOs earn more than average wage. (Source) 0 The number of women among the best-paid 100 CEOs in Canada in 2009. (Source) 20th Canada ranks […]

Parliament resumed yesterday and Canadians could be forgiven if they decided they would rather stick pins in their arms than watch another round of Stephen Harper’s cynical manipulation compete with Michael Ignatieff’s inept political meandering. I haven’t seen a recent poll on whether or not people want an election, but it wouldn’t surprise me if […]

Advertisers will spend more on internet ads in 2010 than newspaper ads for the first time, according to new estimates by eMarketer. Online ad spending will grow 13.9% to $25.8 billion for the full year in 2010, while advertisers are expected to spend just $22.78 billion on print newspaper ads this year, down 8.2% from 2009, […]

An international coalition of environmental groups, represented by Ecojustice, has withdrawn in protest a complaint against Canada, a first in the history of NAFTA’s environmental watchdog.  The complaint, made to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in 2006, alleged that the Canadian government failed to enforce laws to protect at least 197 at-risk species in […]

 “The economy is a subsidiary of the ecosystem…The only place where the environment and economy are separated is in the human mind.” – Dr. William Rees, UBC Professor, Founder of the ‘Eco-footprint’ concept Perhaps the most foolish and dangerous misconception of our time is that we must somehow choose between the economy and the environment. […]

 A year ago I wrote a column reflecting on the activities of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA), the Canadian branch of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism. The latter is an international pro-Zionist group whose sole task is to redefine anti-Semitism to mean virtually any criticism of Israel. It developed at the behest of […]

In a report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), two prominent economists propose changes to U.S. and Canadian mortgage finance polices to prevent a future financial crisis.   The report is authored by Doug Peters, former Secretary of State (Finance) and former TD Bank Chief Economist, and economic consultant Arthur Donner. […]