Canadian Taxpayers Federation

United Nations Lets Down People On Reserves

A man who lives on an aboriginal reserve in Quebec once described how he went out for milk one day, came home and saw a death threat scrawled on his driveway.

Balanced Budget Legislation a Win for Taxpayers

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today applauded the Conservative government’s pledge to introduce balanced budget legislation.

WARNING: Government May Be Bad For Your Health

If you were just to look at the data, it would be reasonable to assume that working for the government is bad for your health. Here’s some proof: government employees working for the province of Ontario took an average of 10.5 days sick days in 2012. Compare that to just 5.8 sick days among people not working for the government in Ontario. If you work for the government of Ontario, you are 81 per cent more likely to book the day off than those not working for the government.

Government Makes People Sick!

TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on all provincial government agencies to aggressively reduce the amount of sick time taken by government employees and crack down on sick day abuse.

What if the Liberals were a Publicly Traded Company?

Sorry! That's what Premier Wynne said in response to the damning auditor general report on the infamous cancelled gas plants.

Shameless Liberal Spending Scandals Continue: Taxpayers Comment on Gas Plant Update

• Final Oakville price tag well above estimates, costing $1.1 billion, not $40 million originally claimed by Liberal government
• Liberals paid out contract to TransCanada unnecessarily

TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is gobsmacked at the astronomical cost of relocating the Oakville gas plant and the shady details behind the deal with TransCanada to cancel the contract.

“No-Work Contracts” Yet Another Reason to Shine the Light on Parliament

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the Harper government to take a leadership role on accountability and open the books on the expense accounts of politicians, in light of the latest allegations in the Senate spending/contract scandal.

Corporate Welfare to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Michael Chan was one of the featured speakers at this week’s announcement that Toronto will host the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. Apparently that’s one of the perks of being in charge of the province’s tourism ministry, aside from handing out giant cheques to special interest groups, you get to appear onstage with rap icons and basketball legends.

Government Housing Worth A Review

Should a household with an annual income of $153,648 be living in government-run social housing?

Some Big Incomes In Social Housing

WINNIPEG, MB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released Freedom of Information documents today showing some big income earners living in provincial government social housing units.

Are High Taxes Shutting Canada’s NHL Teams out of Stanley Cup Contention?

• The Leafs, Senators and Canadiens all rank among the bottom of tax competitiveness compared with other NHL clubs, while Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver lead the way

OTTAWA, ON: A new paper released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reveals that Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are three of the least financially attractive destinations for NHL players due to high tax rates.

Free Ontario’s Buses

This article was first printed in the National Post on Monday, September 16, 2013​ Ontario families would be forgiven if they could not remember a week when a politician did not stand in front of them to promise some grand vision for reducing congestion on Ontario’s highways. This is not surprising. After all, traffic is often listed as a major cause of stress and even mental illness, and is also named as a top policy concern in Ontario. Premier Wynne proposes a substantial tax increase on Ontario families to pay for a moderate expansion in government transit.

Revoke Pensions for Crooked Politicians

This commentary first appeared in the September 13th, 2013 Sun newspapers in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa When Canadians discovered back in 2010 that serial child-killer Clifford Olson was banking over $14,000 a year in cheques from Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, many of us went nuts.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation to Award Highest Honour to Fmr Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) announced that it will award its high honour, the TaxFighter Award, to former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page.

Time to Sink BC Ferries’ Gravy Boat

VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today launched a campaign and petition to push the B.C. government to make BC Ferries more accountable to taxpayers – and cut back executive salary and bonuses.

$224 Million Mystery

"How was the $224 million spent?" If you want to have some fun try calling Dave Chomiak, NDP Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, and ask him that question.

Reality Check on Fiscal Update

TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is reminding Ontarians to ignore the spin with the release of the 2012-13 Public Accounts of Ontario this afternoon by Finance Minister Charles Sousa.

EI Tax Freeze Means Workers Will Keep Getting Plucked Until at Least 2017

• EI taxes surpassed EI benefits by nearly $3 billion last year

OTTAWA, ON: The three-year freeze on federal Employment Insurance tax rates announced today by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty means Canadian workers will keep getting plucked, like a Thanksgiving turkey, for the costly program until at least 2017, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

CTF Does the Math of Province’s Deficit

At the end of August, Finance Minister Doug Horner released the province's first quarter Fiscal and Economic Update. The minister boasted that Alberta's books might end up between a $247 million deficit and a $250 million surplus when the year is finished. The headlines of the minister's press release tried to spin these numbers to the media and voters, but the charts stapled to the back of it told a very different story.

Hydro’s Not-So “Blacked Out” Documents Confirm CTF Concerns

​WINNIPEG, MB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released “blacked out” Manitoba Hydro documents today that are fully readable. The documents confirm what the CTF has said for years – consultants are gorging off Hydro dam negotiations; some charging more than $250 per hour.