Montreal, April 12, 2016 – Quebec’s Health Department is senselessly blocking the opening of clinics run by nurse practitioners who specialize in front-line care. Yet these doctorless clinics would respond to real needs among the population, access to front-line care being one of the main failings of Quebec’s health system. Moreover, a nurse practitioner costs the health care system around 1/3 of what a general practitioner costs, shows an Economic Note published today by the MEI.

Montreal, April 8, 2016 – Dans le cadre de ses négociations avec les policiers, la Ville de Montréal songe à permettre à d'autres travailleurs d'effectuer certaines tâches auxiliaires que font actuellement les agents du SPVM. L’IEDM croit qu’il s’agit là d’un pas dans la bonne direction. Cette approche a fait ses preuves ailleurs et a grandement contribué à freiner les dépenses et soulager les contribuables montréalais.

Montreal, April 7, 2016 – The government’s decision to stop making Quebec consumers pay for Hydro-Québec’s costly wind energy purchase policies, and its willingness to remain open to oil and gas production, are encouraging aspects of the new Quebec energy policy unveiled today.

The MEI was one of the first organizations to denounce the hidden subsidies to wind energy, with an Economic Note in June 2013.

Montreal, April 6, 2016 – The implementation of a more restrictive plan to protect the boreal caribou could cost thousands of jobs in affected regions, reminds the MEI.

On Tuesday, the Quebec government promised to put in place an action plan—without providing any details—to favour better habitat protection for the boreal caribou, a species that is said to be directly threatened by the forestry industry.

Montreal, March 31, 2016 – The Internet will be the driver of economic growth in the coming years, which is why the regulations that surround it must be kept to a minimum and remain flexible, argues an Economic Note published today by the MEI.

Montreal, March 24, 2016 – In its first budget, the new federal government justifies its imposing deficits using the argument that Canada’s net debt is clearly lower than that of the other G7 countries. However, by using gross debt instead of net debt, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio goes from 38% to 90%, according to a Viewpoint published today by the MEI.

Montreal, March 21, 2016 – In the run-up to the first Morneau budget, expected to include a much larger deficit than the $10 billion announced during the election campaign, the MEI urges the federal government to take action to get public spending under control.

As two recent MEI publications clearly show, increasing budget deficits in order to boost the economy, which certain economists and lobby groups have been advising the federal government to do, is a policy that is doomed to fail.

Montreal, March 18, 2016 – Following the tabling of the Quebec budget on Thursday, the MEI has updated its real-time Debt Clock, and the amount displayed on this counter should be a top concern for Quebecers and for the sitting government.

Montreal, March 16, 2016 – A few days from the provincial budget, the MEI wants to remind the Philippe Couillard government that it made some concrete commitments in terms of public finances which would have positive effects on the economy and on taxpayers’ wallets, and that it should now respect those commitments.

During the election campaign, the Liberal Party made three big promises, spelled out in its election platform:

Montreal, March 10, 2016 – Increasing budget deficits in order to boost the economy, which many economists are calling on the federal government to do, is a policy that is doomed to fail, shows an MEI publication released today. While Ottawa’s deficit gets deeper by the day—the most recent update puts it at $18.4 billion for the current year, not including the several billion dollars of promised infrastructure spending that will be added on later—several economists are recommending that the government spend even more in order to “stimulate” the Canadian economy.