Public Finances Archives - Page 74 of 92 -

Ottawa’s surplus should equate to lower taxes, not more hand-outs to the provinces.

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2005-02-23T00:00:00+00:00 February 23rd, 2005|In the Media|

Ottawa should turn a deaf ear to provincial demands for more money. The provinces have adequate resources at their disposal. Ottawa’s surpluses are the proper reward to the federal government of its fiscal rectitude, and while it is certainly the case that Ottawa taxes us too heavily, that is an argument for Ottawa to cut taxes, not to transfer its excess tax take to the provinces. In his regular column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley suggests that if provinces want more money from taxpayers, they should have to raise it through taxation and be democratically accountable for that decision.

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AIMS Paper Gives Atlantic Canadian Finances a “C”

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2005-02-22T00:00:00+00:00 February 22nd, 2005|In the Media|

In a report released Monday, AIMS stamped Nova Scotia's 2004/2005 finances with C/C+ because of poor financial planning. "Although the province ended 2003/2004 in reasonably good fiscal health, its grade is reduced by a high-spending, tax-raising 2004/2005 budget that is hardly conducive to promoting a healthy environment for economic growth," said the report's author David Murrell, an economist at the University of New Brunswick. Read this piece from the Chronicle Herald to learn more.

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Could Do Better

By David Murrell| 2016-04-06T13:36:53+00:00 February 21st, 2005|Policy Papers|

AIMS latest paper "Could Do Better" shows where the bar needs to be set in measuring fiscal performance in Atlantic Canada. Prior to their 2004/05 budgets, the Atlantic Provinces were fiscally worse off than the nation as a whole. Despite that warning sign, their 2004/05 budgets were both a disappointment and an opportunity missed. This is a lesson worth heeding as we enter the 2005/06 budget season. The only way to master our budgetary challenges is to promote economic growth throughout the region, but provinces are failing to use their budgets effectively to achieve that growth.

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The Mystery of the Missing Fiscal Imbalance

By Brian Lee Crowley and Bruce Winchester| 2016-04-04T17:24:11+00:00 February 18th, 2005|Op-ed|

The fact that Ottawa has been a better fiscal manager of its resources than many of the provinces is not an argument for transferring the results of that superior fiscal discipline to the provinces, just as the fact that Ottawa’s fiscal burden may be too high is not an argument for giving some of those tax resources to the provinces. AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley told the House of Commons SubCommittee on Fiscal Imbalance that the provinces have the means to fix their fiscal problems, and he sees little reason why Ottawa should do the job for them.

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Nova Scotia premier invests wisely upon sale of assets

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2005-02-09T00:00:00+00:00 February 9th, 2005|In the Media|

If you sell the house to buy the groceries you will soon have neither shelter nor food. It is this simple concept that Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm has understood and applied to the $830-million that Nova Scotia is expected to immediately receive as a result of the offshore accord just signed with the federal government. In his regular column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley applauds Premier Hamm for securing real long term gain from the sale of Nova Scotia's offshore assets and avoiding the potential economic and political pitfalls of attempting to spend or invest the $830 million.

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Return of tax cut is best bang from extra federal bucks

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2004-12-26T00:00:00+00:00 December 26th, 2004|In the Media|

The NS government is expecting a "windfall" of unexpected revenue from the federal coffers this year because of increases in equalization and health transfers. Brian Lee Crowley, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, explains in this article why the unexpected increase in funds should not be used to drive up spending but instead puts Premier John Hamm's government in a position to cut income tax by 10 per cent. "There's lots of evidence that suggests that the best bang for their buck is going to be through tax reductions - and personal income taxes are a good place to start."

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Radio-Canada and La Presse ask AIMS ‘Can Québec afford “the Québec model”‘?

By Brian Lee Crowley| 2016-04-04T17:25:05+00:00 December 2nd, 2004|Op-ed|

What model for economic and social development should Québec follow ("Quel modèle pour le Québec?")? That was the question asked by Radio-Canada et La Presse at their joint conference in Montréal on Wednesday, Decemeber 1st, 2004. At the invitation of the organisers, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley participated in a panel that was asked to opine on whether Quebeckers can afford the Québec model ("A-t-on les moyens du modèle québécois?"). Dr. Crowley said the answer was an unambiguous "Yes", but that the far more interesting question was "Are Quebeckers getting good value for money from the Québec model?"

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a l’invitation de Radio-Canada et La Presse, AIMS répond à la question, “A-t-on les moyens du modèle québécois?”

By Brian Lee Crowley| 2016-04-04T17:25:17+00:00 December 2nd, 2004|Op-ed|

Quel modèle pour le Québec? Voilà la question posée par Radio-Canada et La Presse lors de leur conférence conjoint à Montréal tenue mercredi le 1er décembre 2004. Invité par les organisateurs à participer à un panel intitlué "A-t-on les moyens du modèle québécois?", le président de AIMS, Brian Lee Crowley a répondu, "Oui. Mais la question plus fondamentale, c'est est-ce que les Québécois en ont pour leur argent?"

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Resource Revenues – what to do with them once you have them

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2004-11-17T00:00:00+00:00 November 17th, 2004|In the Media|

Now that it looks like Nova Scotia and Nefoundland and Labrador will win the latest federal-provincial debate about natural resource revenues, it is important to remember that an even more important question remains to be settled. What you do with the money once you've got it? Natural resource revenues are not reliable revenues nor are they akin to "normal" government revenues like sales or income taxes. As one time payments based on the fluctuating value of assets that are being permanently liquidated they should not be used to fund current demands that turn into long term commitments. Read this piece to see why and how one time windfalls, as natural resorce revenues inarguably are, need to be invested not wasted. Slightly different versions of this column appeared in both the Chronicle Herald and the Times and Transcript.

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How the Prime Minister squandered his fiscal legacy and got nothing in return

By Atlantic Institute for Market Studies| 2016-03-17T19:13:21+00:00 September 22nd, 2004|In the Media|

In his fortnightly column in the Halifax Herald and the Moncton Times Transcript, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley wrote about the first ministers' agreement on health. His conclusion? "In order to shore up his weak political position in a minority parliament, Paul Martin has largely sacrificed the fiscal maneuvering room he himself won for Ottawa in the early nineties. Yet he got no commitments for reform from the premiers, and only token nods in the direction of greater accountability for results. The Prime Minister has largely destroyed his chief legacy as finance minister and got nothing to show for it other than a year or two of peace on the health front. Like Neville Chamberlain before him, Paul Martin believes that there will be peace in our time. And like Chamberlain, he is likely to be bitterly disappointed."

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