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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.

Q & A: How long are medical wait times in Canada by province and procedure? 

Canadians who need medically necessary surgeries waited longer than ever for treatment — with average wait times hitting 20 weeks, a new Fraser Institute report concludes.Before the 20-week record in 2016, wait times were longest in 2011 at 19 weeks, according to the organization. It began recording wait times for medically necessary elective treatments in 1993. At that point, wait times were only about 9.3 weeks to see a specialist, such as an ophthalmologist, gynecologist, and general surgeons.

Source: Q & A: How long are medical wait times in Canada by province and procedure? | Globalnews.ca

CRA taking far too long to resolve tax objections, auditor general says 

OTTAWA—The federal auditor general says Canada’s tax man is costing the government and citizens millions by taking far too long to resolve income tax disputes.Michael Ferguson’s audit says it took months for Canadians to hear from the Canada Revenue Agency after formally objecting to their income tax assessments, and that appeals officers can wait more than a year when they request help from other areas of the agency.

Source: CRA taking far too long to resolve tax objections, auditor general says | Toronto Star

B.C. minister says province will act ‘quickly’ to close tax loopholes on farmland

The B.C. government is pledging to act “quickly” to revise farm tax breaks so they can’t be exploited by investors who buy agricultural land but do little or no farming.

Peter Fassbender, the minister responsible for overseeing property assessments and farm taxation, said Monday the province will now consider making those investors pay significantly higher taxes.

“If there is something people are taking unfair advantage of, then I think we have to take a hard look at that and close those loopholes,” the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development told The Globe and Mail in an interview. “We have proven time and time again, when action is needed we can move very quickly.”

Source: B.C. minister says province will act ‘quickly’ to close tax loopholes on farmland GLOBE AND MAIL

It’s time for big cities like Toronto to get new taxes

Toronto, like many Canadian cities, faces a growing number of challenges — changing demographics, increased income inequality, increasingly complex expenditure demands, growing social service needs, and deteriorating infrastructure, to name the most notable. At the same time, the city’s revenue sources have remained largely unchanged — property taxes, user charges, the land transfer tax, occasional provincial and federal grants for infrastructure projects, and a hodgepodge of relatively small revenue sources including licences, permits and fees.

This growing divergence between expenditure needs and revenue sources means the services and infrastructure that residents are demanding from their local government cannot be delivered with existing revenues. Yet, all too often, the only solution we hear is budget cuts across the board.

Source: It’s time for big cities like Toronto to get new taxes | Toronto Star

Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump

Donald Trump’s election to the presidency is really bad news for the federal Liberals. It is equally bad news for their provincial counterparts in Ontario and for the NDP wrecking-ball of a government in Alberta.Trump is not bad news because his victory has caused progressives’ hair to spontaneously combust (although that’s been fun to watch).  And his rattling of politically correct elites in the U.S. threatens to generate a spillover rattle in Canada.

Source: Canadian jobs are at risk of flocking south under Trump | GUNTER | Columnists |

Donald Trump’s win ‘bad news for the auto industry,’ says David Dodge 

A former Bank of Canada governor says renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with president-elect Donald Trump will be dangerous for Canada’s automotive industry. Part of Trump’s win has been credited to voters in the rust belt — Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — where his anti–trade and protectionist promises played well with the electorate.And he’ll remain beholden to those voters if he wants to stay in power, says David Dodge

Source: Donald Trump’s win ‘bad news for the auto industry,’ says David Dodge – Politics – CBC News

Vancouver recommends 1% tax on empty homes

Vancouver city staff have unveiled a proposal for a one per cent tax on empty homes that would become the first of its kind in Canada, if approved by city council.

The proposal would require all homeowners in the city to self-declare whether a property is their principal residence — meaning the usual place they call home — where they receive mail and file their taxes.

Source: Vancouver recommends 1% tax on empty homes CBC.CA

Fraud is Flourishing: Canada’s Regulatory Patchwork Paves Way for Financial Crimes

Fraud is alive and well in Canada. It is thriving and fraudsters are innovating. This boom in white-collar crime is partly the result of Canada’s lack of a uniform regulatory system and ineffective law enforcement.

On September 22, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Affairs Assets Control (OFAC) designated Vancouver-based company PacNet Group a significant transnational criminal organization. PacNet is an international payments processor and money services business, with a history of money laundering. OFAC issued a press release, stating that PacNet knowingly processes payments on behalf of a wide range of mail fraud schemes that target victims in various countries across the globe, and it is the third-party payment processor of choice for a breadth of mail fraud ploys. These allegations shine lights on how these types of fraudulent activities can flourish under Canada’s current legal landscape.

Canada’s lack of cohesive regulation is particularly problematic surrounding the collection of beneficial ownership information on registered companies.

According to information provided by the British Columbia government, between 2006 and 2015, 304,859 companies were incorporated through BC’s Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizen’s Services. Federal incorporations are also on the rise.

Canada has 2.6 million corporations, with an overwhelming majority being incorporated provincially. The formation of companies is an industry onto itself, with Canada allowing a high degree of anonymity about registrants. A report issued by the Financial Action Task Force warned:

Source: https://blog.bennettjones.com/2016/10/31/fraud-flourishing-canadas-regulatory-patchwork-paves-way-financial-crimes/

B.C. Patients’ Charter Case Will Spur Overdue Health-Care Reform

Even after the fall of the the Berlin Wall, it was possible to find apologists for communism who would insist that the political system responsible for immeasurable human suffering wasn’t inherently flawed. There was nothing wrong with communism, you see, it was the implementation that had failed. Professor Colleen Flood’s defence of Canada’s creaking state health-care monopoly in the Huffington Post last week has a similar air of unreality.

Written with the sententiousness of a party tract, but none of the revolutionary élan, I don’t expect many readers followed her plodding piece to its perfunctory end. Fortunately, you don’t have to get that far to see the problems with her argument (to use the word loosely): each of the first three sentences contains a factual inaccuracy, and the blog goes downhill from there.

The legal case that has agitated Professor Flood does not “challenge … the publicly funded Canadian health system,” nor does it “allege that medicare violates the Charter.” The plaintiffs’ constitutional challenge is straightforward: if the government does not provide timely medical treatment, then it cannot at the same time legally prohibit patients who are suffering on long wait lists from taking control of their own health care and arranging treatment privately.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/howard-anglin/bc-health-care-charter-challenge_b_12834756.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-politics&ir=Canada%20Politics