Another day, another tax cut pledge from one of Canada’s major political parties. There must be a general election round the corner! And indeed there is, on October 19, when voters go to the polls to elect members to the House of Commons. This time it was Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s turn, with the Conservative Government promising a substantial cut in Canada’s payroll tax if re-elected. This followed hot on the heels of Harper’s proposal to extend and expand the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit which is designed to encourage investment in Canada’s vital natural resources industry. In fact, the Prime Minister has been quite busy thinking up ways to tempt the electorate to voting for him again. In the past month or so, he has promised to: increase the scope of a tax break helping first-time buyers onto the property … Read More »

Well, I suppose it would be somewhat remiss not to mention the UK election, which was keenly watched by investors around the world. But really, what was all the fuss about? After all, the result was never in doubt! That is, if you ignored every single opinion poll produced during the election campaign (I wonder if any pollsters will be joining Miliband, Clegg, and Farage in the queue for a new job). Move along, nothing to see here. By the time this blog is published, David Cameron will be a few days into his second term as Prime Minster with a small but eminently workable majority, making all those predictions about unholy alliances and Faustian pacts between parties look like mere scaremongering. In the end though, the Conservatives used scaremongering very much to their advantage in something of a masterclass … Read More »