Columnist Bryne Purchase says Queen’s Park "has to develop a long-term perspective on the implications for real estate, and therefore for the economy, and for social inequality, of a relentless increase in the value of l ...
Author Archives: Bryne Purchase
Purchase: Housing costs – a clear and present danger
Columnist Bryne Purchase sees the Liberal government may need to redefine the housing problem to avoid political risks. ...
Purchase: It’s past time for Queen’s Park to act on Toronto house prices
Columnist Bryne Purchase says there's an economic development case to be made for cracking down on skyrocketing real estate prices. ...
Purchase: The premier’s electricity price plan is depressingly predictable
Columnist Bryne Purchase sees the Liberals' new hydro rate reduction plans as "borrowing to pay a portion of the rent, not buy the house." ...
Purchase: The auditor general and the legitimacy of our government
As a former deputy minister of finance, Bryne Purchase has some thoughts about the government's accounting spat with the auditor general. ...
Purchase: Hydro power vs. nuclear power
Bryne Purchase interviews business strategy consultant and expert on the energy sector Marc Brouillette. ...
Purchase: Ontario’s Long-term Energy Plan at odds with climate goals
Columnist Bryne Purchase does a Q&A with an energy expert on Ontario's plan to reduce carbon emissions and its outlook for the electricity sector. ...
Purchase: The two big stories of 2017
Columnist Bryne Purchase makes his predictions for the biggest stories of 2017: currency and climate. ...
Purchase: Electricity prices and holiday wish lists
Columnist Bryne Purchase offers the Liberal government some free advice, not a free lunch, on the electricity file. ...
Purchase: A Trump presidency and Ontario
Columnist Bryne Purchase says Ontario and Canada "will have their work cut out in dealing with Trump." ...
Purchase: The federal gift to the Ontario opposition
Columnist Bryne Puchase says the federal government is offering Ontario's opposition parties a "sweet deal" with its carbon-pricing plan. ...
Purchase: Power, accountability and elections
Columnist Bryne Purchase has more than a few things to get off his chest about recent provincial politicking. ...
Purchase: Ontario’s long-term energy plan and radical agendas
Columnist Bryne Purchase is looking for a little more transparency in Ontario's energy planning. ...
Purchase: In search of a new model for physician compensation
Columnist Bryne Purchase wonders why Ontario can't rein in doctor pay the same way the province polices energy rates. ...
Purchase: The OEB ought to be embarrassed, and maybe ashamed
Columnist Bryne Purchase calls the Ontario Energy Board's decision to bury the costs of cap and trade in the delivery charge of natural gas bills "downright ludicrous" ...
Purchase: Why Ottawa needs to lead the way on climate policy
Columnist Bryne Purchase is in favour of the federal government getting involved in carbon pricing - and he thinks the Wynne government should give up its own cap-and-trade model. ...
Purchase: Brexit, political uncertainty and Queen’s Park
Columnist Bryne Purchase can see how Brexit-like discontent in Ontario could arise centred around political fundraising, subsidies to favoured companies and also the sale of Hydro One. ...
Purchase: Goodbye and good riddance to the ORPP
If a CPP enhancement hadn't been hammered out, columnist Bryne Purchase thinks the premier "would have owned one of the worst economic policy decisions in the history of Ontario." ...
Purchase: Industrial policy visions, geo-economic realities and good government
Columnist Bryne Purchase points out there are global factors that may trump the Ontario government's dreams of auto industry investment. ...
Purchase: Ontario faces free trade ‘wild card’ from U.S.
Columnist Bryne Purchase considers the Donald's influence on Ontario's economy — if a Trump presidency indeed comes to pass. ...
Purchase: Ontario faces free trade ‘wild card’ from U.S.
Columnist Bryne Purchase considers the Donald's influence on Ontario's economy — if a Trump presidency indeed comes to pass. ...
Purchase: A carbon tax needs a strong political sell
Columnist Bryne Purchase breaks down the politics behind the Liberal government's chosen method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions: the cap-and-trade system. ...
Purchase: A carbon tax needs a strong political sell
Columnist Bryne Purchase breaks down the politics behind the Liberal government's chosen method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions: the cap-and-trade system. ...
Purchase: Details of fundraising reform will reveal real Wynne
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the premier will have to "simply do the right thing" — not for herself or her party, but for the sake of government itself. Most importantly, the public's trust is counting on it. ...
Purchase: Why carbon pricing should be used to cut the HST
Columnist Bryne Purchase suggests the best policy for revenue-neutral carbon pricing is to reduce taxes on consumption. ...
Purchase: Only a matter of time before voters wise up to Liberal policies
Columnist Bryne Purchase says Wynne government plans for cap-and-trade, the Hydro One sale and the ORPP all have a cost - one that Ontario Liberals will pay for at the ballot box as the public comes to realize the true i ...
Purchase: Ontario needs to find a way to boost private-sector spending
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the big question for the upcoming Ontario budget is how to get private businesses to start investing again — and argues the ORPP is counterproductive for this goal. ...
Purchase: Electric car subsidy a distraction from doing something useful
Columnist Bryne Purchase argues the increased subsidy for electric vehicles will not boost their sales as long as the price of oil remains so low. ...
Purchase: Don’t let parochial politics trump the national interest
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the Wynne government should drop its Energy East demand for demonstrable short- and long-term economic benefits to Ontario ...
Purchase: The silver lining in all the bad economic news
Columnist Bryne Purchase says despite all the bad economic news these days — from falling oil prices to a plunging loonie —there's plenty of positive news as well. ...
Purchase: What the Liberal landslide means for Ontario
Columnist Bryne Purchase writes that Kathleen Wynne need not proceed with the Ontario pension plan if Justin Trudeau broadens the CPP as promised; and the province will do well in the infrastructure spending binge. ...
Purchase: Rationalizing the Hydro One sale
Columnist Bryne Purchase writes that despite opposition criticism, the ruling Liberals continue to press ahead with the Hydro One sale for understated reasons. ...
Purchase: Could partly privatized Hydro One become more dynamic
Columnist Bryne Purchase writes on whether a partially privatized Hydro One utility will become more dynamic ...
Purchase: Gas tax hikes better way to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Columnist Bryne Purchase says had the Liberal government raised the gas tax this year, Ontario would be well on its way to reducing GHG emissions as billions flow into the treasury. ...
Purchase: The pipeline and patriotism
Columnist Bryne Purchase writes that, although Energy East's economic benefits to Ontario are questionable, it is essential to the prospects of Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick - and that's a good reason to suppor ...
Purchase: Energy, the economy and political brands
Columnist Bryne Purchase writes that the future of Ontario's economy depends in part to secure and affordable electricity. ...
Purchase: Ontario economy still faces medium-term risks
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the Wynne government's short-term focus on electoral politics and ideology will end up costing middle-class Ontarians in the next few years. ...
Purchase: The meaning of Ed Clark’s appointment
Columnist Bryne Purchase observes that, with the confidence and support of the premier, Clark's will be the sole vision of the future of Ontario’s economy. ...
Purchase: Parsing the assumptions behind the ORPP
Columnist Bryne Purchase, in part two of his interview with pension expert Malcolm Hamilton, learns that the low, 35-per-cent pension participation rate by Ontario workers is nothing to get worked up about. ...
Purchase: Parsing the assumptions behind the ORPP
Columnist Bryne Purchase interviews pension expert Malcolm Hamilton about the Wynne government's rationale behind the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. ...
Purchase: Questions about democracy in Hydro One sale
Columnist Bryne Purchase points out the irony in the premier’s talk about ‘enhancing’ democratic governance while the issue of democracy is at stake in the plan to privatize a majority of Hydro One. ...
Purchase: In defence of the auditor general’s AFP report
Columnist Bryne Purchase defends the auditor general's report that public-private partnerships are more costly than traditional infrastructure financing and procurement. ...
Purchase: The Liberals, Bay Street and unions in an undemocratic alliance
Columnist Bryne Purchase contends that the partial selloff of Hydro One is about getting the money now without thinking about how the decision will affect future governments. ...
Purchase: Selling Hydro One is faulty economics
Columnist Bryne Purchase contends that the people have a right to know if the Liberals' rationale for this asset sale is supported by both the financial market theory and the facts-on-the-ground evidence. ...
Purchase: Cap-and-trade is a risky policy
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the Liberal government's cap-and-trade policy announced Monday is the more complex way of controlling greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Purchase: Employee ownership and selling Hydro One
Columnist Bryne Purchase says selling part of Hydro One to its employees could improve productivity, but the idea needs to be studied more. ...
Purchase: Selling Hydro One a solution in search of a rationale
Columnist Bryne Purchase can think of many reasons why privatizing the utility is a bad idea, not the least being it would be fiscally irresponsible. ...
Purchase: Privatizing electricity distribution is bad advice
Columnist Bryne Purchase says selling off parts of Ontario's electricity distribution assets, which bring in enough investment return to attract private equity, is bad economics. ...
Purchase: Aging society intensifies health-care pressures
Columnist Bryne Purchase says the doubling of Ontario's population of seniors in the next 25 years will put major pressure on government programs and health-care costs ...
Purchase: The unambiguously good news of low oil prices
Columnist Bryne Purchase pushes back on the Bank of Canada governor's claim that falling oil prices are 'unambiguously negative' for the whole country. ...
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