3-minute read
Income taxes: The complexity of the tax system is costly for the poorest Canadians
Montreal, March 12, 2020 – With tax season in full swing, Canadians once again have to devote time and money to filling out their income tax returns. Unfortunately, a lot of them—including many of modest means—will not claim the considerable sums to which they are entitled. This troubling situation is due to an overly complex tax system, as shown in an MEI publication launched today.
3-minute read
Budget Surpluses: Quebec Must Give Taxpayers Back Their Money
Montreal, March 9, 2020 – Quebec’s robust economic growth in recent years has allowed the government to record a surplus each of the past five budgets. Between the 2014-2015 and 2018-2019 fiscal years, Quebec accumulated budget surpluses totalling $21.3 billion, a strong argument for a personal income tax cut, shows an MEI publication launched today.
2-minute read
Teck Frontier cancellation: Uncertainty is costing Canadians
Montreal, February 24, 2020 – The decision by Teck Resources to abandon its Frontier oilsands mine project in northern Alberta shows once again that Canada’s regulatory, legal, and political environment entails unreasonable delays and uncertainty that chases investors away.
3-minute read
The sharing economy: Destroying jobs won’t help low-income workers
Montreal, February 13, 2020 – Will Canada import California’s job-killing experiment and risk putting freelance work out of the reach of Canadians who need it? An MEI publication launched today shows that forcing companies to consider freelance workers as employees could reduce these workers’ incomes and deprive many of them of this first rung on the jobs ladder.
3-minute read
First Nations and natural resources: A different picture
Montreal, February 12, 2020 – Protests are taking place across the country as certain members of First Nations express their opposition to the Coastal GasLink energy project in British Columbia. Yet according to Germain Belzile, Senior Associate Researcher at the MEI, we must keep in mind that the democratically elected band councils of the communities along the pipeline’s route are in favour of the project.
3-minute read
Pharmaceuticals: Health Benefits That Pay for Themselves
Montreal, February 5, 2020 – Ottawa has the prices of drugs in its sights. On the one hand, it has made changes to the calculation method for the price ceilings imposed on drugs sold in Canada. On the other, the idea of national government pharmacare to replace the provinces’ mixed plans is still in the air. These ill-advised public policies could actually raise total health care spending, while threatening Canadians’ access to the best available treatments, shows a publication launched today by the MEI.
3-minute read
ERs: 1,000 Quebec patients leave each day without being treated
Montreal, January 29, 2020 – Last year, nearly 380,000 Quebecers—or over 1,000 patients a day—ended up leaving a hospital emergency room without having been attended to by a doctor, shows a publication launched today by the MEI.
4-minute read
Taxing the tech giants: Canadian consumers and businesses will pay the price
Montreal, January 22, 2020 – During the last federal election campaign, all parties promised to raise taxes on the digital giants. Although this is on ice awaiting the conclusion of OECD discussions on the matter, the idea is still present in the public debate, and may end up being adopted one way or another. A publication launched today by the MEI shows, however, that the so-called GAFA companies have been taxed at a level similar to or higher than large Canadian corporations, and that it will be consumers and the Canadian economy in general that would pay for such a measure.
3-minute read
Health Care: Over a million Canadians waiting for a medical treatment
Montreal, December 18, 2019 – Despite decades of animated public debates and the colossal sums spent—which keep on increasing—waiting times for Canadian patients continue to worsen, notes a study published today by the MEI.
3-minute read
Poll: Quebecers remain open to hydrocarbons
Montreal, December 11, 2019 – Contrary to what is often heard in the media and from certain lobby groups, Quebecers are still open to developing their oil resources. They also prefer oil from Western Canada to foreign oil, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the MEI and published today.