Category: Nova Scotia Economics

Small business tax changes missing the real targets

Small business tax changes missing the real targets

Posted by | Sep 11, 2017 | , |

The federal Liberals have certainly opened up the proverbial can of worms with their proposals for changing the taxation rules affecting small businesses. If there were such a thing as a Richter scale for backlash, this one would be closing in on 9.0. Opposition has been growing since the mid-July release for public comment of the details underlying a Liberal campaign promise to stop highly paid individuals – including physicians – from using the small business tax regime to reduce their taxes. The Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness has organized doctors, farmers, lawyers, shop owners and other small...

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Domesday File #1: More workers, but no more jobs

Domesday File #1: More workers, but no more jobs

Posted by | Jul 9, 2017 | , |

Domesday File: An occasional series inspired by the Domesday Book, the detailed survey of the wealth and human resources ordered up by William the Conquerer in 1085 Talk about raining on someone’s parade. While the weather outside sprinkled only a few drops of precipitation on Halifax last Friday, the monthly labour force survey from Statistics Canada unleashed a downpour on the economic aspirations of many. The headline item from the monthly report is a sharp increase in the number of unemployed in Nova Scotia – up 13%, from 39,400 in June 2016 to 43,500 in June 2017. The details...

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Canada 150 bittersweet celebration for many

Canada 150 bittersweet celebration for many

Posted by | Jul 2, 2017 | , |

A lot of folks who have been badly treated by the entity named “Canada” have come forward over the last few days to cast a pall over the country’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Many indigenous Canadians have been speaking out for months in an effort to shift the focus from celebration to contemplation of the treatment of indigenous people since Europeans set up shop on the northern half of North America over 400 years ago. They carried their message to Parliament Hill over the weekend. In Halifax, some Chinese Canadians were on the news last week drawing attention to the...

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Money for public services, never public servants

Money for public services, never public servants

Posted by | May 2, 2017 | , |

It seems that many in the media barely glanced at last week’s Nova Scotia budget. The rationale was that because it would not be put to a vote, it was more akin to the Liberal election platform than to an actual budget. But if that’s the case – if the budget is indeed the platform – the media and all Nova Scotians should be giving it more than a quick look. The story so far in the run up to the May 30 election is that after three-plus years of telling everyone there is no money the Liberals have...

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Feds will roll out cash… if you re-elect the Liberals!

Feds will roll out cash… if you re-elect the Liberals!

Posted by | Apr 24, 2017 | , |

The recent federal budget doesn’t appear to be getting rave reviews from Canadians. This past week the Globe and Mail published results of a poll asking 1,000 people whether they had a positive or negative view of the March 22 federal budget. According to the Globe, 52% had negative or somewhat negative opinions. Only five per cent said they had a positive view, 33 % said their opinion was somewhat positive. With only one out of twenty firmly positive, participants were clearly unimpressed with the budget, and its lack of a plan for eliminating the deficit seems to be...

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Jobs vanish but “job creators” get richer

Jobs vanish but “job creators” get richer

Posted by | Jan 15, 2017 | , |

The January labour force report from Statistics Canada contained a nasty jolt. Amidst a generally positive report for the country as a whole there was a great big outlier for Nova Scotia. In December there were 13,300 fewer full-time jobs in this province than there were in December 2015. Surprisingly, the biggest drop – 9,600 – was recorded in Halifax. Even more shocking, elsewhere in Canada there was an increase of 81,000 full-time jobs in December. The jobs meltdown is only news to a degree. As recorded often on this site, something is clearly rotten in the economic state...

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Richard Starr, The man behind the Point

About Richard

RICHARD STARR has had careers as a journalist, public servant, broadcaster, political staffer and freelance policy adviser. He is author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, appearing in everything from Atlantic Insight to Atlantic Progress. A lifelong student of Maritime history, Starr is married to playwright and former MP Wendy Lill. They live in Dartmouth.

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