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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.

Kathleen Wynne Blames Your Family For Costly New Tax

Premier Kathleen Wynne is worried about what she calls “very bad actors” in Ontario.

While defending her government’s new tax on home heating fuels and gasoline, the premier said that the new tax is necessary because Ontarians are “very bad actors in terms of our per capita emissions.” That’s right, the new tax on keeping your family warm in the winter and on your daily commute to work is because Ontarians are “bad actors.”

Source: http://canadafreepress.com/article/kathleen-wynne-blames-your-family-for-costly-new-tax

Criminals target Canada for money laundering

Canada “faces an important domestic and foreign money laundering threat” from criminal organizations that launder billions of dollars in this country.

The stiff warning comes from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which also sounds an alarm about the threat against “major financial institutions and some unscrupulous real estate lawyers” targeted by criminals involved in laundering money.

Source: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/10/11/criminals-target-canada-for-money-laundering.html

Reading government debt

The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) released a statement yesterday alarming us all to the fact that around 7PM today, Québec’s public debt surpassed $280 billion dollars.  As if that figure wasn’t staggering enough – and literally incomprehensible to most of us – the MEI’s statement was quick to add that public debt is also growing to the tune of about $8 billion per year.

 

Source: http://www.lifeinquebec.com/reading-government-debt-20911/

Ontario’s medical pot vaping exemption came from consultations with 2 people

Ontario’s Liberal government defended allowing medical marijuana users to vaporize anywhere by saying they had consulted “very broadly” – but emails show those consultations involved the input of just two people, The Canadian Press has learned.Ultimately, the associate health minister had to defend the policy for just one day after the government backtracked on the policy within 24 hours.

The emails, obtained through freedom-of-information legislation, show the premier’s top staff members were both unaware of the new rule and confused by it.

The new e-cigarette regulations banned the use of the devices anywhere regular cigarettes were prohibited. But the government provided an exemption for medical marijuana users, meaning they could have vaped in restaurants, at work or on playgrounds.

The exemption became public Nov. 25 and by the next day, Dipika Damerla, then the associate health minister, said that based on the feedback the government had received, they were going back to the drawing board. The government ultimately decided there would be no exemption.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-medical-marijuana-1.3798825

Carbon tax divides nation: Trudeau announcement sparks walkouts, ultimatums

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to his feet in the House of Commons earlier this week to announce a national carbon tax that will force provinces to put a minimum price on carbon or set up a cap and trade system to tax emissions.

Designed to address climate change and ensure all regions of the country are paying for their greenhouse gas emissions, the announcement sparked walkouts from a climate meeting in Montreal, demands for pipeline quid pro quo, as well as a number of endorsements and shows of support.

The federal plan calls for a $10-per-tonne floor price starting in 2018, eventually rising to $50 a tonne in 2022—two-thirds higher than what Alberta’s price will be in 2018. Trudeau said the federal government will implement a price in any province or territory that doesn’t have either a carbon price or a cap-and-trade system in place by 2018.

Immediately after the announcement, which Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall called a “betrayal,” the prairie province, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Alberta had all but joined the opposing camp.

Source: http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/regulation/carbon-tax-divides-nation-trudeau-announcement-sparks-applause-walkouts-and-ultimatums-176805/

Ottawa mother loses thousands in child benefits thanks to CRA error 

An Ottawa woman who discovered she’s owed thousands of dollars in child tax benefits she never received because of an error the Canada Revenue Agency made a decade ago has been told not to expect to recoup the full amount — even though CRA has admitted its mistake, and someone else apparently pocketed the money.Nicole Davoudi, a single mother of two teenage daughters, first applied for the Canada child tax benefit in 2006. She was also receiving the universal child care benefit (which was combined with the child tax benefit to form the Canada child benefit in July 2016). The tax-free benefits are intended to help families with the cost of raising children under 18.

Source: Ottawa mother loses thousands in child benefits thanks to CRA error – Ottawa – CBC News

Premier Notley says min-wage hike, carbon tax won’t hurt economy 

CALGARY—Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says she rejects the notion that a minimum-wage hike and carbon tax will hurt the provincial economy.Opposition parties have lambasted the NDP government for charging ahead with those two policies at a time when the province’s economy is ailing.

Source: Premier Notley says min-wage hike, carbon tax won’t hurt economy – Canadian Manufacturing

Cattle feeders at heart of Canada’s industry say cow head tax threatens survival

CALGARY — Feedlot operators in the heart of Canada’s largest cattle-producing region are warning that a municipal tax introduced this past spring will result in more cattle feeders going out of business, days after one of them announced it would close.

Rick Paskal, president of Van Raay Paskal Farms in Picture Butte, Alta., and seven other operators with capacity to fatten about 250,000 cattle for slaughter have also launched a lawsuit against Lethbridge County demanding the reversal of a $3-per-head tax charged to operations of at least 150 beef cattle.

They say the tax, when added to other increasing costs and falling beef prices, will result in more feedlots shutting down over the coming months.

Source: Cattle feeders at heart of Canada’s industry say cow head tax threatens survival CTV NEWS