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Articles by Jack Mintz
Jack Mintz: We need to fix mining taxation Original
Skip to Content Our effective tax rates are competitive but our system is too complex and tilts too much toward exploration and development, not processing A government whose watchword in other areas is sustainability and conservation is pushing hard for the rapid exploitation of a valuable part of our non-renewable mineral store. Productivity doesn’t just depend on our tax competitiveness and how much capital investment we have.
Jack Mintz: Canada risks losing sight of western values Original
Identity politics, Marxist-driven oppression theories and antisemitism are at odds with Enlightenment principles and Canadian values Economist Jack Mintz gives a speech after accepting the Gordon Gibson Memorial Citizenship Award from the Aristotle Foundation, in Calgary on Oct. 7, 2026. The following is excerpted from a speech delivered by economist Jack Mintz upon accepting the Gordon Gibson Memorial Citizenship Award from the Aristotle Foundation at an event in Calgary on Wednesday.
Jack Mintz: 'Toronto the good' has become 'Toronto the mediocre' Original
Skip to Content If only the mayoralty candidates in Canada’s largest city had some innovative ideas for fixing transportation, housing and crime Potholes along Bloor Street West, near Royal York Road in Toronto. Arriving in Munich last spring after a flight from Toronto, I was immediately struck by the city’s lack of potholes. There aren’t any, even in the oldest part of the city.
Jack Mintz: Higher real interest rates are very bad news Original
Skip to Content Stalled growth, higher rates and uncontrolled public debt an explosive combination The Bank of Canada building in Ottawa. The OECD this week forecast that interest rates are expected to rise by a half point in most countries, including Canada, in the coming year. This is on top of recent hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, Japan and New Zealand. Only a year ago, we heard from experts that interest rates could fall as economies stalled.
Opinion: Time to lower our elbows and make a deal Original
Skip to Content The delaying tactic of refusing to renegotiate CUSMA until the current American tariffs are addressed has clearly failed Mark Carney strikes a fighter's pose at a 2025 campaign rally. Janice MacKinnon and Jack Mintz write that it's time for Canada to get back to the table to negotiate a new trade agreement with the U.S. Canada’s “elbows-up” approach to American tariffs has been unique among market-based economies.
Jack Mintz: The ‘mega productivity’ tax deduction — good intentions, wrong policy Original
Skip to Content A better policy would be to lower tax rates on all investments and eliminate various deductions and credits so as to broaden the tax base Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference during the second day of the inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, Ont., on Sept. 15, 2026.
Jack Mintz: Fix bad policy if Canada wants investment
Prime Minister Mark Carney's big investment powwow next week is aimed to attract a trillion dollars of private and public investment in Canada over the next five years. However, it is one thing to market our projects — it is another thing for cheques to be written. That will be Carney's biggest challenge in the wake of unpredictable events that investors don't like. He has upped a tariff war with the U.S. that could last another two and half years.
Jack Mintz: Wake up Canada! Trade diversification comes with a heavy economic cost
Can Canada compete profitably in other markets to substitute for exports to the U.S. market? As shown in the table below, Canada is just one of many global competitors. When it comes to other major countries, Canada's share of their imports is minuscule, even less than our share of world GDP (two per cent), except for the U.K. and the U.S. For certain key industries, Canada will be challenged severely to compete in other markets.
Jack Mintz: Are we taxing gambling too much? Original
Skip to Content The rapid growth of online betting that can lead to tax avoidance by joining international websites will pressure governments to lower rates Like most “sin” taxes, gambling and online gambling taxes typically have two objectives: discourage harmful consumption and, of course, raise revenue to fund public services.
Jack Mintz: The best response to tariffs is competitive tax policy Original
Skip to Content Corporate income taxes raise the costs of our exports but don't affect imports from other countries. Maybe we should re-think that A corporate tax review that would reduce trade distortions and make industry and manufacturing more competitive should be a priority for Canada. Although tariffs are top of mind these days it isn’t just tariffs, quotas and subsidies that impact our trade balance. Taxes can have an even more powerful effect on trade. We ignore that at our peril.
Jack Mintz: Picking today's winners and tomorrow's losers
Skip to Content If we continue the current world trade war, we will find that, as in real war, even the winners suffer severe losses A heavy forklift operator places a coil of steel onto a flatbed truck at a ArcelorMittal Dofasco site in Hamilton, Ont. I buy terrific coffee from the The Roasterie in Calgary even though I have to pay shipping costs to Toronto.
Jack Mintz: Picking today's winners and tomorrow's losers
I buy terrific coffee from the The Roasterie in Calgary even though I have to pay shipping costs to Toronto. Now that the federal government has pledged $100 million (for starters) to pay 50 per cent of the cost of shipping steel within Canada, I wonder if it could do that for roast coffee, as well? Somebody else would be paying my freight but, really, it's a trivial amount. The steel industry is obviously much more important than coffee roasting.
Jack Mintz: High speed derails in North America
The Liberals' high-speed rail is a big gamble, and the politicians making the decisions on it won't be around to see whether or not their project should ever have left the station. (Credit: Aapsky/Getty Images) High-speed rail (HSR), which enables passengers to travel at 300 km/h or more over long distances, diverting demand from roads and airports to electrified rail trips, has been a big success in China, Japan and Europe, with their dense populations.
Jack Mintz: Life with the U.S. ain’t easy these days Original
Skip to Content We need to lower our elbows and, as soon as possible, shake hands on whatever reasonable trade deal we can get U.S. President Donald Trump, left, welcomes Prime Minister Mark Carney outside the West Wing of the White House on Oct. 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. We shouldn’t be surprised to see new Trump tariffs coming down the pike despite the harm they do to the American economy.
Jack Mintz: How do we stop business and capital from heading south? Original
Skip to Content Continued trade uncertainty is doing our economy no favours Unless we deal with U.S. trade soon, we are more likely to follow Europe’s slow growth than turn back to economic dynamism. Alarm bells went off when KPMG reported last week that 42 per cent of 275 manufacturers it surveyed have already abandoned Canada or have shifted or plan to shift production to the United States.
Jack Mintz: Welcome to the world of creative funding for public works Original
Skip to Content A foundation to finance the renovation of 24 Sussex Drive makes sense but will trigger tax credits and may reduce gifts to other causes On balance, it’s better to let Canadians themselves choose whether they want to contribute to renovate a politician’s home or not. Deeply indebted governments are looking for creative ways to cover the budgetary cost of their spending.
The most overlooked aspect of the new West Coast pipeline could be the most consequential
Commentary 7 July 2026 Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with B.C. Premier David Eby in Vancouver, May 20, 2026. Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press. Allowing B.C. to extract royalty payments on transported Alberta oil continues a terrible precedent The day after celebrating Canada’s 159th birthday last week, Ottawa, Alberta and British Columbia announced deals on July 2nd that will enable several major resource, infrastructure, and electricity projects to be developed.
Jack Mintz: Don’t expect a World Cup economic bounce
The World Cup not only entertains fans of football, or as Canadians have traditionally known it, soccer. It also provides megabucks for FIFA, retailers, service providers and even manufacturers. This quadrennial burst of spending has encouraged sports-minded economists to see if big football tournaments have any impact on the economy. A slew of studies has shown mixed results, ranging from nil to a three per cent increase in consumer spending. Underwhelming results shouldn't really be surprising.
Opinion: The Canadians who emigrate to get U.S. health care Original
Skip to Content Canada's much-romanticized social safety net is prompting some people to move away for better care Every July 1, we surrender to the anesthesia of rituals: a stylized maple-leaf exceptionalism, a collective sigh of relief that our society has escaped the perceived vulgarities of the American experiment, and a nod to a social safety net romanticized as our secular covenant. Gazing at the flag, we repeat a self-congratulatory narrative about a kinder, gentler nation.
Jack Mintz: Canada's carbon policies offset Alberta’s tax advantage Original
Skip to Content Carbon taxes and emissions credits both raise producers' marginal costs, offsetting the benefits of very competitive taxes of other kinds Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shake hands in Calgary on May 15, before signing an agreement on oil pipeline approvals and carbon pricing.
Jack Mintz: America's G7 partners need to up their game Original
Skip to Content In the 1970s the G7 countries produced almost two-thirds of world GDP. Their share has fallen sharply as has their influence Unless Europe, Japan and Canada can up their economic and military games, the G7 may well be eclipsed as Trump and the U.S. looks for different global arrangements. Before this week’s G7 shindig in France, United States President Donald Trump irritated his fellow leaders by floating the idea of ditching the G7 and holding a G2 summit with China.
Jack Mintz: There are reasons Canadians have flocked to Alberta and B.C. Original
Skip to Content Over the past 30 years Alberta has gained more than half a million people from other provinces. That's an advantage it should want to keep The freedom to move anywhere in the country is itself a significant reason for Canada to hang together. In the three decades following 1995, a recent Fraser Institute study notes, Alberta benefitted from a net inflow of 539,000 residents. This should give pause to Albertans thinking of voting for separation.
Mark Carney’s antisemitism response falls woefully short
Commentary 8 June 2026 Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, June 1 2026. Chris Young/The Canadian Press. Is the golden age over for Jews in Canada? Is the golden age for Jews over? Last month, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore was being interviewed by Israel’s prominent journalist, Haviv Rettig Gur, about the state of British Jewry. Two U.K. Jews were murdered and three injured at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on the Day of Atonement last year.
Jack Mintz: Tactics divide Albertans on 'stay' or 'leave' Original
Skip to Content Both sides rely on hope, with stayers hoping for federal policy changes and leavers hoping for prosperity without strife The question is whether Alberta gets a better bargain, or, with separation defeated, do Canada and Alberta go back to the status quo? If there is one feeling Albertans share — both the majority who want to stay in Canada and the minority who want leave — it is that they give more to the rest of Canada than they receive back.
Jack Mintz: Tactics divide Albertans on 'stay' or 'leave'
Both sides rely on hope, with stayers hoping for federal policy changes and leavers hoping for prosperity without strife • • The question is whether Alberta gets a better bargain, or, with separation defeated, do Canada and Alberta go back to the status quo? If there is one feeling Albertans share — both the majority who want to stay in Canada and the minority who want leave — it is that they give more to the rest of Canada than they receive back.
Jack Mintz: Rising government debt will hit Canada, too
Skip to Content Defence needs and demographics mean that without deficit discipline, government debt will keep rising, which it cannot do forever Peace Tower at the Centre Block on Parliament Hill is seen from the National War Memorial in Ottawa on March. 4, 2026. A potential sovereign debt crisis looms as governments continue to ramp up their spending and deficits.
Jack Mintz: Rising government debt will hit Canada, too
A potential sovereign debt crisis looms as governments continue to ramp up their spending and deficits. In 2024, the latest year for which data are available, global gross public debt hit 95 per cent of world GDP, 32 points higher than in 2001. The G7 countries, which make up 30 per cent of the world’s economy, are even worse, with gross public debt now at 124 per cent of GDP. And defence needs, demographic pressures and a desire to support the vulnerable will likely lead to even more debt.
Jack Mintz: Australia's response to antisemitism puts Canada to shame Original
Skip to Content The Albanese government is spending $1,000 per Jewish resident to protect the community, compared to just $70 in Canada A couple prays during a candlelight vigil, one week after 15 people were killed in an attack on a Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach, in Sydney on Dec. 21, 2025.
Jack Mintz: Affordability trumps productivity in Australian budget Original
Skip to Content Tax measures to help low-income people cope with higher prices are being financed by higher taxes on investment, which won't help growth Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers arrive at Parliament House on May 13 in Canberra, Australia. For finance ministers these days, affordability trumps productivity. Tuesday’s Australian budget is a perfect example Canadians need to pay attention to.
Jack Mintz: Carney wants to play in the economic minor leagues Original
Skip to Content Our new best buds in Europe have notoriously slow economic growth. With our per capita GDP now just two-thirds the U.S., we'll fit right in Prime Minister Mark Carney talks to reporters at the West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 7. In its fiscal update, the Carney government repeats almost ad nauseum the IMF’s projection that Canada will have the second highest real GDP growth rate among G7 countries this year, at 1.5 per cent.
Jack Mintz: Not another Liberal slush fund! Original
Skip to Content There's a long, sorry history of public-private investment funds in Canada. They don't end up satisfying either partner Rather than spend $25 billion to fund yet another Liberal slush fund, most taxpayers would probably prefer if Mark Carney were to retire federal debt.
Jack Mintz: End DEI targets in federal research funding Original
Skip to Content The provinces, which regulate and fund universities, should step up to make sure grants and new positions are allocated solely on merit There is no doubt that federal research funding influences academic hiring decisions. Most academics argue it’s hard to be a good university teacher without being involved in research. Current federal “diversity, equity and inclusion” (or DEI) criteria for post-secondary research funding are anathema to high-quality university education.
Jack Mintz: Best way to keep Canadians from leaving? Make Canada better Original
Skip to Content Blocking Canadians from leaving or taxing them when they do are not how a free and democratic society should address economic discontent If we want people and provinces to stay, the best way is not to block or tax their exit but instead to make Canada a better place to live. I want to link two issues that are troubling Canadians these days: the brain drain and Alberta’s referendum on separating from Canada. Both are about people exiting a country.
Jack Mintz: With house prices softening, let’s dial back housing initiatives Original
Skip to Content Mainly for economic reasons, the housing market is getting more affordable. Since the emergency is over, it's time to dial back on ad hoc policies A house 'for sale' sign in Toronto, Ont. Is the housing crisis nearing its end? Since peaking in the summer of 2022, the new-housing price index has fallen 3.5 per cent.
Jack Mintz: Energy security will top many nations' future political agendas Original
Skip to Content If the Strait of Hormuz is no longer safe, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States will need other ways to deliver oil to the global market A 'no stock' sign is displayed on a pump at a petrol station in Hyderabad, India, on March 25. With the closing of the Strait of Hormuz to non-Iranian shipments of oil, the world is keeping close watch on oil prices. Energy security is now paramount, not ESG or climate change.
Presenting Lily Mars (1944) - Film
Film Presenting Lily Mars (1943) yang dibintangi Judy Garland dan Van Heflin ini mengisahkan perjalanan Lily Mars, gadis 19 tahun asal Indiana yang punya mimpi besar untuk jadi aktris panggung terkenal. Meski berasal dari kota kecil, Lily punya kepercayaan diri tinggi dan yakin kalau dirinya punya bakat untuk bersinar di Broadway. Suatu hari, Lily mencoba peruntungannya dengan mendekati John Thornway, seorang produser Broadway yang kebetulan datang ke kotanya.
Jack Mintz: This week’s population numbers spell trouble ahead Original
Skip to Content Internal migration to Alberta and B.C. is changing political balances while continuing net emigration is reducing our growth potential Canada’s population on Jan. 1 was 41,472,081 — 102,436 persons or 0.2 per cent lower than a year ago. Statistics Canada this week released its latest population figures. Some of the trends will become increasingly worrisome if they continue.
Jack Mintz: Why Mark Carney should visit Israel Original
The prime minister could exercise influence, while signalling his support for Jewish Canadians The flags of Canada and Israel fly in Ottawa. Our globe-trotting prime minister has been building strategic partnerships with “middle powers,” and even China, as a policy intended to strengthen Canada’s hand against Donald Trump’s offence on trade.
Jack Mintz: Why Mark Carney should visit Israel
11 hours ago Benjamin Netanyahu has predicted that the conflict could draw Israel closer to its Arab neighbors. That may be wishful thinking. A few days ago, the war that Israel and the United States launched against Iran entered its third week, and Israelis made bleary-eyed preparations for Shabbat. Throughout …
Jack Mintz: Alberta should stop capping auto insurance rates
Skip to Content Preventing companies from covering their costs eventually causes them to leave the market, which many have done since caps came in Steeper premiums may cause high-risk drivers not to buy insurance, writes Jack Mintz.. With the recent oil price shock, “affordability” will be as big an issue with Canadian voters as it currently is with American. Which means it will be on politicians’ minds, too.
Opinion: Canada needs big-bang tax reform, not more tax tweaks
Skip to Content We should cut top income tax rates and let people opt for a generous credit that pays them more than applying for boutique exemptions Canada relies more on personal income taxes than any other G7 country, write Jack Mintz, Alexandre Laurin and Nick Dahir. Canada-U.S. free trade is on shaky ground. Canada is not attracting its share of business investment, and our economic performance over the past decade is deeply concerning.
Jack Mintz: Alberta manages growth while B.C. hikes spending and taxes Original
Skip to Content The two provinces delivered very different budgets The legislatures of British Columbia, top, and Alberta. During this past week and half, Canada’s two most western provinces presented budgets with yawning deficits. Slow-growth British Columbia is forecasting a deficit for the 2026/27 fiscal year of $13.3 billion (2.9 per cent of GDP), up from $9.6 billion for this current year.
Jack Mintz: Our new maximum-cost defence spending strategy Original
Skip to Content Government procurement that protects local producers raises costs and lowers quality for the taxpayers such spending is supposed to serve A person walks past signage stating “Shop Local! Shop Safe!” at a Napoleon barbecue location in Toronto, Ont. Milton Friedman, Nobel-prize winner in economics and staunch advocate for free markets, once remarked, “Free trade is not politically feasible. Why?
Jack Mintz: Our new maximum-cost defence spending strategy
Now Last year, the U.S. was the only major destination to see a decline in international travelers. With increased scrutiny at the border, ICE violence and unpredictable policies, the new year isn’t looking better. Michelle Cowley, a London-based communications specialist, and her husband spent nearly …
Jack Mintz: Will tax hikes undo the affordability agenda? Original
Skip to Content With surging, deficit-financed public spending, pressure will mount to raise, not lower, taxes The biggest household expenditure is tax paid to governments. So much for affordability. At the rate at which federal and provincial governments are spending and running up deficits these days, at some point politicians will raid our bank accounts.
Jack Mintz: Trade policy uncertainty is bad for investment and jobs Original
Skip to Content Disdain for Donald Trump is fine but Canada has a simple choice: let CUSMA die or make a trade deal with him that includes some tariffs A trade agreement, with our without Trump, that enables us to move ahead while we strengthen our economy is a better option than no agreement at all. In the past several months, both United States and Canadian business organizations have called for renewing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement, which is up for review July 1 this year.
Jack Mintz: The GST credit becomes another Liberal social program Original
Skip to Content Just one more welfare program that will discourage work, especially for second workers in a family A cart of groceries in a store in Montreal, Que. Prime Minister Mark Carney this week announced a boost in the GST tax credit to help Canadians with affordability.
Opinion: Alberta’s policies contribute to insurance companies leaving
Article content In the past three years, Alberta has introduced various reforms to reduce the cost of automobile insurance. Despite these efforts, premiums have climbed steadily and now averages roughly $1,835 per driver, the second highest in Canada after Ontario. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
Opinion: Alberta’s auto policies driving insurers away
2 hours ago Buying a new vehicle is a big financial commitment that could leave you looking for ways to get out of debt. According to LendingTree, auto loan debt is the second-largest category in the United States. Only mortgages account for more debt. Purchasing a new vehicle could mean making payments for …
Opinion: Alberta’s auto policies driving insurers away
Opinion: Alberta’s auto policies driving insurers away Edmonton police work at the scene of a two vehicle collision on Manning Dr. near the Hwy 28 A intersection, north of Edmonton Sunday Nov. 27, 2022. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia In the past three years, Alberta has introduced various reforms to reduce the cost of automobile insurance. Despite these efforts, premiums have climbed steadily and now averages roughly $1,835 per driver, the second highest in Canada after Ontario.
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