Opinion: Minister Chrystia Freeland’s new housing tax benefit is a good idea. It’s an even better idea if Ottawa uses its introduction to fix the inequities around accessing these tax benefits faced by observant Muslim homebuyers, MohamadSawwaf argues.
The federal and Ontario governments’ recent Fall Economic Statements rightly focus on how to make homeownership more attainable for Canadians.
Among other measures, for instance, the federal government proposes to “Double the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, which would provide up to $1,500 in direct support to homebuyers, starting in 2022, to help offset increasing closing costs involved in buying a home.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'This is new Canada': head coach Herdman coolheaded as dramatic Panenka penalty sees Canada stun JapanCanada wrapped up their World Cup preparations with a dramatic 2-1 victory over 24th-ranked Japan on Thursday, leaving head coach John Herdman reassured they can handle the challenge ahead.
Read more »
Michael Sabia’s testimony shows how blockades represented existential threat to economy and U.S.-Canada relationshipDeputy Minister of Finance says blockades presented a ‘first-tier issue’ in U.S.-Canada relationship
Read more »
Top bureaucratic advisors to Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland to testify at Emergencies Act inquiryThe inquiry led by Justice Paul Rouleau that is probing the government’s decision to invoke the act.
Read more »
Politics This Morning: Trudeau to ThailandGood Thursday morning, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, LARISA GALADZA, is in Ottawa today, where she is scheduled to brief the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee at 11:30 a.m. You can watch the meeting here and get that briefing yourself. PTM spoke to Senator STEPHEN GREENE, a member of the committee, to find out what he wants to learn from today’s meeting with Galadza. “What’s happening on the ground as far as she is concerned, and how that reflects or ties into Canadian foreign policy,” was his first response. Greene said he also wants to know why Canada hasn’t, in his view, provided the same level of support to Ukraine as countries like Poland and the U.K., both of which—along with the United States— have sent significant amounts of weapons and other aid to the country. Or, he said, at least not as quickly as those countries did following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Canada’s Global Affairs Department says Canada sent Ukraine more than $1-billion in military aid since the war began. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU pledged $500-million in military assistance for Ukraine while at the G20 summit in Indonesia. That’s in addition to $500-million set aside for that purpose in Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND’s spring budget. That includes money for winter clothing and portable heaters, drone cameras, and satellite photos, among other things. What’s the cabinet up to? Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU has wrapped up his time at the G20 summit in Indonesia. Now, it’s on to Thailand for a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, better known as APEC. APEC is a collection of 21 countries that borders the Pacific, including Canada, the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia, among some of the other obvious candidates. The PMO has identified freer trade and climate change as priority issues for the summit. Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI will testify before the House Justice Committee as it studies his bill to overhaul the way the conduct of federally-appointed judges is
Read more »
Will Canada be the last fossil funder standing?When it comes to ending fossil financing, “slow and steady” will not win the race. Tackling the climate crisis requires rapidly phasing out fossil fuels while managing an equitable transition to 100 per cent renewable energy. This will require massive investments in clean energy solutions—and public finance has a critical role to play. Unfortunately, governments continue to use their public spending power to prolong the fossil fuel era. This is changing. Julia Levin is with Environmental Defence Canada. Photograph courtesy of Environmental Defence Canada. Last year, at COP26 in Glasgow, U.K., Canada joined 39 other countries and institutions—including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany—in signing a landmark agreement to end international public finance for fossil fuel projects and prioritize support for clean energy by the end of 2022, known as the Glasgow Statement. The Glasgow Statement signatories account for $28-billion a year in overseas public finance for oil and gas. If that were redirected, it could more than double their international clean-energy finance. The Glasgow Statement is historic. It is the first international diplomatic effort aimed at ending public financing of oil and gas. It sends a clear message: the age of oil and gas is over. And it’s working! Many signatories have come out with strong policies—and in those countries there have been real drops in fossil fuel finance. But Canada is dragging its feet. Canada is the top fossil-fuel financier of the Glasgow signatories. We rank among the worst in the G20 for providing public financing to oil and gas companies and average $11.3-billion CAD annually through crown corporation Export Development Canada. By comparison, Canada’s support for clean energy is a meagre eight per cent of its total energy finance. Bronwen Tucker is with Oil Change International. Photograph courtesy of Oil Change International What does that look like? For example, Export Development Canada routinely
Read more »
Canadian response to U.S. Inflation Reduction Act should seek to boost 'certainty' for investors, says advocacy groupThe landmark United States Inflation Reduction Act poses economic challenges and opportunities for Canada, say observers, but a chief response to the American law incentivizing industrial decarbonization must be to address the investor “certainty” it creates in contrast to the Canadian regime. Michael Bernstein, executive director of Canadians for Clean Prosperity, said the certainty the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides is “one of the most significant” ways the act could “attract a lot of capital, both money and people … to the U.S. that might otherwise go to Canada or stay in Canada.” “It’s not that Canada isn’t spending a lot of money on climate or doesn’t have some strong economic incentives,” said Bernstein, whose organization advocates for a market-based approach to climate policy. “But the U.S. policy is designed in a way that provides a lot of certainty to investors, and clarity to investors on what funding or what support they’re going to get by investing in decarbonization.” MPs discussed the Canadian government’s response to the IRA at a Nov. 15 House International Trade Committee meeting, questioning witnesses on the advantages the act gives American companies in fields related to decarbonization, such as manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles. NDP MP Taylor Bachrach (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.) asked if Canada needed “a concerted strategy around the zero emission vehicle and battery supply chains” given incentives offered in the act for the production of batteries for electric vehicles. NDP MP Taylor Bachrach asked if Canada needs ‘a concerted strategy’ around electric vehicle and battery supply chains, in response to incentives offered in the IRA. The Hill Times photo by Andrew Meade Conservative MP Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, Ont.), said the IRA “takes an enabling approach” to decarbonization through incentives, while he characterized Canada as “having more of a carrot and stick approach.” Rachel Samson, an economist who serves as vic
Read more »