Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Some of the effects of the minimum wage increase in the province of Ontario.
Some of the effects of the minimum wage increase in the province of Ontario.
November 20, 2018 | 15 min. 32 sec. | Midi Pile (CKYK-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
Many politicians and interest groups advocate a rapid increase in the minimum wage in the name of social justice. Yet this ignores the results of past experiments. Ontario’s new Minister of Labour, Laurie Scott, pushed back by cancelling the increase to $15 planned for January 2019, and by stating that the minimum wage should be determined “by economics, not politics.” Subsequent increases will be set based on the annual change in the cost of living. This is a reasonable compromise, which will avoid further harming workers at the bottom of the ladder, and more specifically the young.
The fight against poverty depends on economic freedom.
The media often convey the impression that First Nations wish to earn a living from traditional activities alone and have little interest in the development of their communities. Yet while some oppose mining and forestry or the building of energy infrastructure, others favour such development and wish to take advantage of the resulting wealth and jobs. This paper focuses on cases where First Nations decided to become involved in the development of resources on their territory, and on the benefits they derived from this involvement.
The fight against poverty depends on economic freedom.
What Are the Benefits of Economic Freedom?
A useful and intuitive definition of “economic freedom” is the freedom (absence of coercion) to buy from, or sell to, a willing counterparty. A society based on economic freedom is a free-market society. But is economic freedom economically beneficial? Is it all about money? Is it moral? Aren’t there many exceptions where government intervention is warranted? This Economic Note addresses these questions.
The value of canceled energy projects in this country.
The ineffectiveness of the governmental approval process for energy projects.
In recent years, numerous national energy projects have been cancelled or substantially delayed in Canada due to the ineffectiveness of the governmental approval process. This situation is alarming, given the contribution of the energy sector to the Canadian economy, but also our loss of competitiveness relative to our main trading partner. Indeed, the United States has put in place a series of reforms aimed at reducing the regulatory burden for businesses, while here, we are heading in the opposite direction.
The accumulation of knowledge and technological change have led to a significant shift in forestry practices. As a result, forestry is now a sustainable activity supporting the economy in many parts of Canada. Despite this reality, various popular myths lead people to believe that wood harvests need to be reduced to ensure forest survival. On the contrary, the potential of Canadian forests is in fact underutilized, presenting opportunities for hundreds of forest-dependent towns and regions across the country.
The important economic contribution of the forest’s exploitation.
September 5, 2018 | 20 min. 19 sec. | Le Mid (CHOI-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
The alarmist concept of economic decline.
Our forests are not endangered.
August 17, 2018 | 11 min. 28 sec. | Maurais Live (CHOI-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
The cost of abolishing tuition and related costs for college and university.
The cost of abolishing tuition and related costs for college and university.
The idea of making higher education “free” in Quebec is hardly new, but recently, some politicians have revived the debate by promising to implement such a policy if elected. While this idea may seem attractive at first glance, it would be costly for Quebec taxpayers, would not necessarily lead to more students graduating, and would also be unfair.
July 19, 2018 | 11 min. 51 sec. | Boulevard du Pacifique (Ici Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Must we block development projects in order to protect at-risk species?
High Taxes and Fees Penalize Travellers.
June 21, 2018 | 9 min. 12 sec. | Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge (770 CHQR) Interview with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
The Canadian air transport sector has experienced significant expansion in recent years. Nonetheless, a multitude of taxes and fees are restricting its potential for growth. Given that favourable conditions are dissipating, especially when it comes to low fuel prices, what can governments do to reduce the fees imposed on transporters, and ultimately on travellers?
High Taxes and Fees Penalize Travellers.
May 29, 2018 | 11 min. 39 sec. | Midi Pile (CKYK-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
Measures taken by the provinces to protect the woodland caribou habitat.
April 19, 2018 | 11 min. 05 sec. | Duhaime-Ségal le midi (FM93) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
April 19, 2018 | 6 min. 11 sec. | Québec aujourd’hui (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
The probability of a trade war is high.
The Quebec government will let the Val-d’Or caribou disappear.
The impact of the restrictive rules imposed on Quebec maple syrup producers.
The impact of the restrictive rules imposed on Quebec maple syrup producers.
The impact of the restrictive rules imposed on Quebec maple syrup producers.
Martch 9, 2018 | 9 min. 53 sec. | Par ici l’info (Ici Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Martch 9, 2018 | 6 min. 59 sec. | Le 15-18 (Ici Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
Martch 9, 2018 | 10 min. 33 sec. | Midi Plus (CKOB-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
Each new sugaring-off season brings its share of controversies, with stories about seizures of syrup from producers making headlines. The rules that apply to Quebec maple syrup producers are indeed very restrictive, in addition to stimulating the growth of their competitors in neighbouring provinces and U.S. states.
Economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty.
February 22, 2018 | 21 min. 07 sec. | La commission Gendron (CHIK-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
Is it true that economic growth only benefits a small, privileged elite? This seems to be the belief of certain groups that regularly denounce a “crisis of inequality” in many countries, including Canada. Yet this perspective, which considers wealth creation to be a zero-sum game in which the poorest are prisoners of their economic circumstances, is simply mistaken.
Economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty.
The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and supply management.
The disproportionate use of subsidies by the Quebec government.
January 18, 2018 | 12 min. 23 sec. | Midi Pile (KYK 95.7 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
January 18, 2018 | 9 min. 20 sec. | Solide comme le Roch (FM 1047) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
January 18, 2018 | 6 min. 26 sec. | Québec aujourd’hui (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at the MEI, about the disproportionate use of subsidies by the Quebec government and their effects on the Canadian economy. Broadcast on January 18, 2018, on LCN’s Mario Dumont.
Even though corporate subsidies have often been criticized for their undesirable economic effects and for discriminating in favour of certain sectors or companies, they continue to be very present in the Quebec economy. Quebec pays out twice as much in corporate subsidies as Ontario, proportional to the size of its economy. This policy does not make Quebecers richer.
The disproportionate use of subsidies by the Quebec government.
January 15, 2018 | 12 min. 26 sec. | L’heure de pointe – Toronto (Ici Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, […]
The softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States.
How to encourage competition in wireless telephony services.
December 8, 2017 | 13 min. 45 sec. | Québec aujourd’hui (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Supreme Court of Canada hearing Comeau case.
November 22, 2017 | 31 min. 31 sec. | Sophie sans compromis (BLVD 102.1 FM) Debate (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
The increase in state spending and its impact.
The concept of food sovereignty.
The renegotiation of NAFTA and protectionism.
October 17, 2017 | 8 min. 31 sec. | La Commission Gendron (CHIK-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
The cost of the boreal caribou preservation plan.
The concept of “school segregation” that is said to prevail in Quebec.
September 14, 2017 | 14 min. 37 sec. | Martineau-Trudeau (CHOI-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at the […]
August 30, 2017 | 23 min. 32 sec. | Jérôme Landry au retour (Énergie Québec) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
August 30, 2017 | 9 min. 36 sec. | Midi Pile (CKYK-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
August 30, 2017 | 11 min. 24 sec. | Sophie sans compromis (BLVD 101.2 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
This spring, the Quebec government announced additional spending on education. These new expenditures are on top of the substantial increases seen over the past ten years. Is this viable over the long term? Have students benefited from this augmented spending? And are there other solutions that would give taxpayers more for their money?
Expenditures on education versus results.
Expenditures on education versus results.
The renegotiation of NAFTA and Supply management.
Debate with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at the MEI, on the subject of supply management, in the context of NAFTA renegociations. Broadcast on CBC’s On The Money, on August 17, 2017.
In order to justify the continued existence of supply management, producers’ associations state that they could not actually compete on the American market, and that without this system, they would even lose their shares of the domestic market. This Viewpoint aims to show that on the contrary, it is possible for Canadian farmers to be successful on the world market, without benefiting from such protectionist measures.
The renegotiation of NAFTA and Supply management.
July 19, 2017 | 9 min. 59 sec. | Simi Sara Show (CKNW-AM) Interview with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at the […]
July 19, 2017 | 5 min. 42 sec. | Midi actualité (CKOY-FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
Costs versus the benefits of tax credit programs.
June 9, 2017 | 9 min. 48 sec. | 100% Normandeau (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
The marketing model of maple products in Quebec.
Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.
Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.
Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.
Since the 1970s, farms in the dairy, poultry, and egg sectors have been subject to supply management, a system which combines production quotas, price controls, and import barriers to increase the prices of goods produced by these farms. The negative effects of this system for consumers have been studied in depth, and there is now a broad consensus regarding their existence and amplitude. The question of compensating farmers in order to abolish this regime remains an open one.
May 24, 2017 | 23 min. 41 sec. | Sophie sans compromis (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
Two examples of measures that would be beneficial to consumers and producers on both sides of the border.
Two examples of measures that would be beneficial to consumers and producers on both sides of the border.
March 23, 2017 | 7 min. 55 sec. | Boréale 138 (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
March 23, 2017 | 8 min. 40 sec. | 100% Normandeau (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
During the American election campaign, Donald Trump criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement on several occasions, going so far as to call it “a disaster,” and he clearly stated his intention to renegotiate it. Although the new president is wrong to target it as the source of the economic ills afflicting his country, it is true that NAFTA could be improved.
Two examples of measures that would be beneficial to consumers and producers on both sides of the border.
The threat of a renegotiation of our trade relations with the United States still exists.
January 20, 2017 | 11 min. 45 sec. | Bouchard en parle (FM93) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
The integration of the North American automotive industry jeopardized.
January 12, 2017 | 5 min. 19 sec. | Solide comme le Roch (104,7 FM) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
Donald Trump’s recent statements regarding the investments of auto industry giants and vehicle imports from Mexico have created significant uncertainty in Canada. His threat to impose tariffs at the U.S.-Mexico border to protect the American auto industry raises the possibility that Canada might also be affected by such a measure. If this were to happen, the economic consequences could be very harmful for both Americans and Canadians, since after half a century of trade liberalization, the two countries’ automotive industries are now completely integrated.
The integration of the North American automotive industry jeopardized.
A substantial minimum wage hike would be particularly harmful in rural regions.
December 9, 2016 | 12 min. 09 sec. | Au coeur du monde (Radio-Canada) Debate (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
December 8, 2016 | 15 min. 41 sec. | Solide comme le Roch (FM 104,7) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public […]
December 8, 2016 | 6 min. 26 sec. | Que la Mauricie se lève (FM 106,9) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, […]
A strike of fast food restaurant employees in New York in 2012 gave birth to a movement demanding a substantial increase of the minimum wage in the United States, calling for it to rise to $15 an hour. Since then, several cities and states have established timelines for raising the minimum wage to that symbolic threshold. In Quebec, the major labour unions have taken up the charge, along with the symbolic $15 target.
A substantial minimum wage hike would be particularly harmful in rural regions.
The tendency toward centralization has undermined the competitiveness of the forestry sector.
October 27, 2016 | 6 min. 15 sec. | Des matins en or (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Over time, the Quebec government has modified, on several occasions, the forest regime that governs the activities of the forestry industry. This Research Paper reviews the history of the forest concessions regime, the TSFMA regime, and the main events that influenced the new 2013 forest regime. It also proposes reforms inspired by the positive aspects of the former regimes and of practices that prevail elsewhere.
Protectionism provides benefits for a limited group, all while harming a majority.
Protectionism provides benefits for a limited group, all while harming a majority.
The widespread costs and concentrated benefits of softwood lumber protectionism.
September 15, 2016 | 7 min. 37 sec. | Au coeur du monde (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy […]
Despite multiple legal setbacks before WTO and NAFTA tribunals, American softwood lumber producers are still calling for the imposition of limits and tariffs on Canadian imports, arguing that they represent unfair competition because they are subsidized. If no agreement is ratified before October 12, 2016, imports from Canada could be subject to tariffs of up to 25%. The case of softwood lumber is a good illustration of how protectionism provides benefits for a limited group, all while harming a majority.
Supply management hurts low-income Canadian households.
Supply management hurts low-income Canadian households.
As a result of a recent decision by the Canadian Dairy Commission, the price of industrial milk is set to increase on September 1st, 2016. Numerous studies have found that supply management, under which Canada’s dairy and poultry sectors operate, imposes a large cost per family through higher consumer prices than could be obtained on open markets. Furthermore, these higher prices place more of a burden on poorer households than on richer ones.
Air travel is stifled in Canada due to poor public policy with regard to airports and airlines.
Favourable conditions like lower fuel prices and the weakness of the loonie have benefited Canadian airports over the past two years. This trend could be short-lived, however, whereas systemic pressures are undermining the competitiveness of the Canadian airline sector in the longer term. In 2015, Canada was ranked 130th out of 138 countries in terms of ticket taxes and charges imposed on airports. Ultimately, these taxes and charges represent extra costs that are passed on to consumers and to air carriers.
The charges and taxes imposed on Canadian airports and their impact.
June 7, 2016 | 6 min. | The Tim Denis Morning Show (CKTB 610) Interview with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst at […]
Canadian airport fees are too high.
Quebec’s Health Department is senselessly blocking the opening of clinics run by nurse practitioners who specialize in front-line care. Yet these doctorless clinics would respond to real needs among the population, access to front-line care being one of the main failings of Quebec’s health system. Moreover, a nurse practitioner costs the health care system around 1/3 of what a general practitioner costs, shows an Economic Note published by the MEI.
It is difficult for innovative solutions like nurse-led clinics to establish themselves in a bureaucratic health care system.
The likely costs in terms of jobs and economic activity of conservation measures to protect the boreal caribou.
August 20, 2015 | 10 min. 20 sec. | Bonjour la Côte (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Alexandre Moreau, Public Policy Analyst […]
Since the addition of the boreal caribou to the threatened species list, the Quebec government has made considerable efforts to protect its habitat by limiting forestry companies’ access to the public forest. No one denies the need to have in place conservation measures for protecting biodiversity, as long as they have concrete positive effects and that the associated costs are not out of proportion with the goals. When it comes to the boreal caribou, though, these two criteria are not necessarily respected.
In order to balance public finances, the Quebec government has increased the tax burden of Quebecers considerably in recent years. Now, the purchasing power of Quebecers is lower than that of Canadians in the other provinces. Quebec’s disposable income per capita ranks 9th, ahead of only Prince Edward Island. According to data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec, it seems the province’s tax burden has become so heavy that it has a negative impact on economic growth and on individual disposable income.
In the context of the current negotiations for the renewal of public sector collective agreements, the figures discussed in the public debate can be misleading. The widely reported percentage increases demanded by unions and offered by the government do not represent the pay raises of public sector employees in Quebec, but rather increases to the pay grades themselves. This distinction is crucial for properly understanding how salaries will change following the current round of negotiations.
