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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Auditor general blasts Liberals for waste 

Ontario’s government watchdog says taxpayers spend millions of dollars paying repair bills for shoddy work by contractors hired for road maintenance and public transit projects, including part of one bridge that was installed upside down.

Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk also warns of serious shortcomings in the health-care system, and predicts cap-and-trade will cost businesses and individuals $8 billion between 2017 and 2020 but won’t meet the emissions reduction target.

Source: Auditor general blasts Liberals for waste | The London Free Press

Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes

Canadian physicians are warning that thousands of specialists will pull out of group medical offices and many will ultimately leave for the United States because of new federal tax changes that will soon be approved by Parliament.

An aggressive lobbying campaign by doctors, radiologists and other medical professionals has failed to sway Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who is rejecting calls to remove a provision in the budget that doctors say will force them to pay tens of thousands more a year in taxes.

Source: Doctors warn thousands could leave for U.S. over new federal tax hikes GLOBE AND MAIL

Restoration, repairs to PM’s official residence could cost $38M: report

OTTAWA — A report from iPolitics says restoration and repairs to the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive, including building a new annex with private quarters and a pool, could cost almost $38 million.The online news site says documents provided mainly by development consultants Marshall & Murray Inc., and Ottawa-based KWC Architects, with numbers up to date as of last February, suggest renovations to the main building to replace the electrical system, install new exterior windows and doors and build a new sun room, among other things, are projected to cost $13.49 million.

Source: Restoration, repairs to PM’s official residence could cost $38M: report | Canada TORONTO SUN

Toronto city workers’ sick leave sickening 

TORONTO – It’s enough to make any besieged taxpayer sick — especially since Thursday marks the day Toronto residents find out which bitter tax pills they’ll be forced to swallow.According to the most recently negotiated CUPE 79 and 416 agreements — signed off in mid-February and early March of this year — more than half of the city’s unionized workers are entitled to six months of sick leave per year.

Source: City workers’ sick leave sickening | Levy | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun

Shadowy publisher of Canadian medical journals retracts ‘steaming pile of dung’

OTTAWA – Even the bad apples in the publishing business don’t like to be caught committing fraud so shameless that one person called it a “steaming pile of dung.”

Last week, the Ottawa Sun exposed scientific fraud by the new owners of two Canadian medical publishing firms — printing fake research for cash.

Now, after the news got international publicity, the company that published our trashy little fake study is retracting it.

Source: Shadowy publisher of Canadian medical journals retracts ‘steaming pile of dung’ CANOE

Ontario mom wants mandatory prescription-error reporting across Canada after son, 8, dies

Months after Melissa Sheldrick’s eight-year-old son Andrew died from ingesting a prescription issued in error, the Mississauga, Ont., mother is on a mission to have mandatory medication reporting systems instituted across Canada.“We can’t undo what has happened. We know that and we have come to accept that as a family. However, putting another family through this is not acceptable,” Sheldrick told Global News.

Source: Ontario mom wants mandatory prescription-error reporting across Canada after son, 8, dies | Globalnews.ca

B.C. commission calls for tax reforms, exemptions worth $1.1B to spur investment

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s finance minister says the government will study recommendations that the province chop taxes to businesses by about $1.1 billion a year in an effort to spur lagging investment.The expert panel’s report released Wednesday makes four recommendations, including exempting businesses from the seven-per-cent provincial sales tax on capital expenses for items like machinery and equipment.The report, titled Improving B.C.’s Tax Competitiveness, also recommends exempting the PST on electricity costs and other energy, and suggested the province implement a made-in-B.C., value-added tax.The value-added tax would address problems with the PST, including investment disincentives and an increase in business costs, the report says.

Source: B.C. commission calls for tax reforms, exemptions worth $1.1B to spur investment TIMES COLONIST

New tax could force small Ontario distilleries to seek fortunes elsewhere 

Ontario distillers say a proposal for a new 61.5 per cent tax on privately sold spirits could kill the province’s distillery industry.Bill 70, introduced by Finance Minister Charles Sousa earlier this month, includes a new sales tax for stores owned and operated by Ontario’s small and independent distilleries.The province says the amendments will enable private distillers and on-store sites to make more money per bottle, increasing operator’s’ profit margin from 13 per cent to 20 per cent.

Source: New tax could force small Ontario distilleries to seek fortunes elsewhere – Sudbury – CBC News

Financial Accountability Office warns of continued budget deficits in Ontario

TORONTO – Ontario’s government spending watchdog warns there is “significant risk” the Liberals will not eliminate a $4.3 billion deficit next year, but Finance Minister Charles Sousa insists the books will be balanced as promised.In his fall economic statement Nov. 14, Sousa announced he would dip into the reserve fund to ensure a balanced budget in 2017-18, in part because of an accounting change in the way pension liabilities are calculated.“We’re balancing next year and we’re balancing the year after that,” Sousa said Monday. “We’re much more aggressive in our assumptions, and while the FAO is estimating that impact (from the accounting change) will be $1.5 billion a year, we said it would be $2.2 billion and $3.7 billion.”

Source: Financial Accountability Office warns of continued budget deficits in Ontario – Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News