Evidence Network

Is it time for major tax reform?

On the same day that the Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, clarified the federal government’s proposals to limit “income sprinkling” as a way for high income owners of private companies to reduce their taxes, the Senate Finance Committee released its report recommending that it all be scrapped.  Instead, the Senate Committee recommended that the government […]

Should the loudest voices prevail on proposed tax reform — even if it is shrill hyperbole?

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s proposals for tightening tax breaks associated with private companies is generating several kinds of response on social media and in mainstream media. The most evident is an impressive deluge of evidence-free rhetoric claiming that the proposals are an attack on everything from the middle class to maternity leave for female doctors […]

What do doctors really have to fear from the feds’ tax crackdown?

A version of this commentary appeared in Maclean’s Magazine Among the most insistent critics of the recent proposals by Finance Minister Bill Morneau to tighten up the use of private companies to avoid taxes have been Canada’s doctors. Canadians generally do not begrudge doctors their above-average incomes. They spend many years training for their jobs, […]

The sky is falling on small business – or is it?

Federal finance minister, Bill Morneau recently released a long and nervously awaited discussion paper which was met with near apoplexy in some corners. The paper aimed at closing a number of loopholes where mainly rich taxpayers use private companies (Canadian controlled private corporations or CCPCs) to reduce their taxes compared to most Canadians whose incomes […]

Does Canada need to worry about the same festering malaise that has disrupted the United States?

For many Canadians, the outcome of the United States election has been a shock. Trump’s campaign, as inarticulate and venal as it was, tapped into important and deeply rooted realities, realities that may contain lessons for Canada too.

Backgrounder: The relationship between burden of disease and health equity

Everyone deserves to live a long life in full health, but not everyone is so fortunate. Some individuals and groups are more at risk of falling ill, becoming severely ill or disabled or dying prematurely (that is, before the average expected life span).

‘Burden of disease’: What it means and why it matters

In a world affected by numerous diseases, disabilities and illnesses, how do governments, health care providers, media or the general public decide which ones are most important?