PEI: Prince Edward Island has a high minimum wage. Compared to the average Islander's income, it is the highest in Canada. Basic economics suggest that when someone's skills are worth less to employers than the minimum wage, he or she will be unemployed. Further increases to the minimum wage would threaten many [...]
By PATRICK LUCIANI (AIMS Senior Fellow) Shopping at the LCBO, Ontario’s government-owned alcohol-retailing monopoly, is like buying liquor from a bank. The only difference is that bank tellers are nicer. It's never fun buying wine and beer from bureaucrats. It’s better than it was in the ’70s, but lousy just the same. Ontario's wine producers [...]
By SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS (AIMS Senior Fellow) Troy Media, 01 July 2017 Tim Horton’s is slowly becoming a classic case of a completely dysfunctional franchise system. Franchisees on both sides of the border are now pressuring Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI), the new owners of the franchise, to ease up on its increasingly strict rules around [...]
By MARCO NAVARRO-GÉNIE (President of AIMS) On its 150th birthday this weekend, Canadians celebrate their peaceful and prosperous country. It is also special occasion for those of us, born elsewhere, who have adopted Canada as our home. We especially know the gifts of Canada in contrast to other, less-stable places. Canada 150 is a time [...]
Federal and provincial legislation exempts First Nations reserves from several forms of taxation. Unfortunately, most governments have not examined the cost of this policy, estimated at $1.3 billion across Canada. The largest tax exemption, is for tobacco. From PEI reserves in 2015, the value of the cigarette loophole was over a million dollars, [...]
Federal and provincial governments have unveiled the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, designed to lower internal trading barriers and add $25 billion per year to the national economy. Unfortunately, the new arrangement wildly misses the mark. While the deal theoretically improves trade by widening the scope of free exchange, the hundreds of exemptions are [...]
During the provincial election campaign, political parties in Nova Scotia presented their policy platforms, which detailed a governing agenda for the next four years. For the first time, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies has released its own document, listing non-partisan policy proposals for the province's next government. Gleaned from interviews with [...]
This Spring, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) surveyed dozens of leading minds in Nova Scotia about the province’s future. Respondents discussed their concerns about Nova Scotia, including low growth, decaying public institutions, and demographic stagnation. To reverse decline, this group proposed many original and helpful insights for public policy reform. Among the [...]