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FRASER UPDATE
A weekly digest of our latest research, commentary, and blog posts
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Latest Research
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Canada’s health-care wait times hit 27.4 weeks in 2022—longest ever recorded
Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2022 is a new study that finds Canada’s health-care wait times reached 27.4 weeks in 2022—the longest ever recorded—and 195 per cent higher than the 9.3 weeks Canadians waited in 1993, when the Fraser Institute began tracking medical wait times. Before this year, the longest recorded wait time was 25.6 weeks in 2021. Prince Edward Island has the longest wait times in the country this year, and Ontario recorded the shortest wait time, which was still more than five months long.
Read More [[link removed]]
Current and projected fiscal policies of Canadian governments are unsustainable; will impose costs on Canadians and the economy
An Evaluation of Three Alternative Fiscal Anchors for Canada is a new study that evaluates three fiscal rules that Canadian governments could adopt: (1) a debt reduction target, (2) a ceiling on the ratio of interest payments to revenues, and (3) a balanced budget rule (achieved by either spending restraint or tax increases).
Read More [[link removed]]
Commentary and Blog Posts
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Ottawa has long troubled history of writing cheques [[link removed]]
by Alex Whalen and Tegan Hill
The auditor general found that $4.6 billion in payments for programs such as CERB were made to individuals who were ineligible.
Parliamentary Budget Officer just demolished climate alarmism [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the Financial Post) by Ross McKitrick
According to the PBO, the impact of climate change on economic growth will be small relative to other drivers.
Alberta taxpayers on the hook (again) for government debt interest [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the Edmonton Sun) by Ben Eisen
The province's debt interest costs will reach a forecasted $2.7 billion this year.
Newfoundland and Labrador middle-income tax bite among biggest in Canada [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the St. John's Telegram) by Ben Eisen and Alex Whalen
To boost their after-tax income by $100, Newfoundlanders at the national average income must earn an additional $153.80 compared to $139.30 in B.C.
Ontario’s government debt actually increased last year by $6.8 billion [[link removed]]
by Ben Eisen and Jake Fuss
Ontario’s net debt increased from $373.6 billion in 2020/21 to $380.4 billion in 2021/22.
Conventional plastic recycling doesn’t work—even Greenpeace says so [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the Toronto Sun) by Kenneth P. Green
By the government’s own accounting, its net-zero plastics campaign will cost more than it will save in waste management costs.
Woke ideology now dominates Ontario public schools [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the Epoch Times) by Michael Zwaagstra
When activists demand ideological conformity from teachers, they undermine the core purpose of education.
Middle-income tax rates in P.E.I. higher than in other provinces [[link removed]]
(Appeared in the Charlottetown Guardian) by Ben Eisen and Alex Whalen
The provincial income tax bill in P.E.I. is twice as large as the bill for someone earning the same amount in B.C.
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