The welfare reform program that Alberta embarked on in 1993 has reduced the province’s welfare caseload, as a percentage of its population, to levels not seen since before the early 1980s’ recession, a success that has important lessons for other…

Many working Canadians are getting an unpleasant surprise with their first paycheques of 1997 — higher employment insurance (EI) deductions, and lower take-home pay.  What happened? Didn’t the July 1996 reforms to the old UI program (which also changed its…

New joint federal-provincial training programs funded by the employment insurance (EI) program will do little for low-skilled workers or for federal-provincial relations, says a C.D. Howe Institute Commentary released today. Much better, the study argues, would be provincial and local…

The principle of equality has received growing attention in Canada. Particularly important in those discussion is how Ottawa treats citizens in different parts of the country. Most Canadians accept, and support, the principle that richer regions should pr  vide some…

Since the March 1996 federal budget was notable for the absence of measures with major short-term impacts on federal finances or the Canadian economy, its aftermath is an apt time to reflect on some of Ottawa’s longer-term fiscal conundrums. This…