Andrew Longhurst 🇨🇦 🍉

"To watch the government present immigrants as the primary source of societal strain is both insulting and soul-crushing. More importantly, it is an empirical fraud designed to deflect from years of provincial underinvestment and poor planning."

@meidastouch.com Oct 9, 2026, 8:21 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

Trump’s deal to buy Russian diesel from Putin just weeks before the midterms funnels money directly into Russia’s war machine. Trump is now facing calls for Congress to block the deal and impeach him. Meanwhile, energy analysts say it’s unlikely to even make a dent in fuel prices.

meidasnews.comTrump Announces Russian Diesel Deal Ahead of MidtermsTrump campaigned against foreign oil.

@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 4:54 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment.

www.nber.org/papers/w35854

Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…

@patmillscanada.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 6:16 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

Believe it or not, there are ultra-rich Canadiens who WANT to pay more taxes. Like Patriotic Millionaire Emma Davis, who just wrote about the Green and NDP proposals to tax the rich in BC. Read more in the @vancouversun.bsky.social

vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 9, 2026, 3:49 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

In British Columbia’s election, public auto insurance is in the crosshairs. How does the system work—and compare to other provinces? By @marclee.bsky.social #bcpoli @policyalternatives.ca
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

@simonenoch.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 5:27 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

Public auto insurance - like SGI in SK and ICBC in BC - act as "affordability buffers" - offering the lowest insurance premium increases year over year in Canada. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

@alonghurst.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 3:59 PM

To be clear, this doesn’t include additional funding for frontline staffing to actually reduce wait times

This appears to fund management teams to instruct hospitals how to to more with less

#onpoli

@emmaarkell.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 7:00 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

Candidates for the BC Conservatives have likened education about the 2SLGBTQ+ community to "grooming," referenced Jan. 6 conspiracies and questioned COVID vaccine safety. Right after we published this, tweets from another candidate surfaced where he joked about killing pro-Palestine activists.

@alonghurst.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 3:51 PM

BC auto insurance rates in 2026 are a total of 0.4% higher than in 2017. In the rest of Canada the average increase was 46% over the same period, and as much as 117% in neighbouring Alberta,” writes my colleague @marclee.bsky.social

#bcpoli

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

@alonghurst.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:58 PM

UN says Pentagon plan to livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter would amount to torture

Condemnation comes amid fierce backlash from US lawmakers who branded the move ‘grotesque’ and compared it to actions of some terror groups and oppressive governments

www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

@palliserfom.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 3:12 AMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

@friendsofmedicare.bsky.social frustrated by Alberta health minister’s international junket. Chris Gallaway said he would encourage all 4 of Alberta’s health ministers to pay attention to solutions proposed by health care workers right here in the province. todayinbc.com/2026/10/06/f... #AbLeg #AHS

@rachelgilmore.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:54 AMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

The Liberals and Conservatives teamed up again today — funny how that keeps happening — to get Bill C-39 over the hurdle of its first vote. The massive, 243-page bill bulldozes environmental protections, Indigenous rights and attacks the right to strike. Here's what this means:

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 8, 2026, 2:29 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

#Ontario has increasingly directed publicly funded surgeries and medical imaging to private facilities, while public hospitals...are not operating at full capacity because of staffing and funding constraints. #onpoli @alonghurst.bsky.social @policyalternatives.ca www.ptbotoday.ca/2026/10/08/r...

@alonghurst.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 10:29 PM

Doerkson Stumbles into First Campaign Crisis with Secret ICBC Promises via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 8, 2026, 2:30 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

“These for-profit facilities offering MRI and surgical services take in much more funding from the province than they pay out in value to Ontarians,” said @alonghurst.bsky.social #onpoli @policyalternatives.ca www.durhamradionews.com/archives/218...

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 8, 2026, 2:38 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

Check out our free webinar on counting the costs (harms and benefits) of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption and the build out of data centres in Canada. From @policyalternatives.ca. October 15 @12pm ET. Details and sign-up below:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 8, 2026, 7:45 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

"...significant funding [is] going into for-profit facilities, and yet across the province...we see...understaffed capacity when there’s infrastructure that’s already been paid for and we don’t have staffing to staff it,” @alonghurst.bsky.social. #onpoli www.sudbury.com/health-and-w...

@alonghurst.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:57 PM

Hospital MRIs unused overnight

Advocates say province funds private clinics instead as HHS and St. Joe's cut hundreds of positions

“We have infrastructure that is sitting idle,” said Andrew Longhurst. “It's not funded. It's not staffed.”

www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...

#onpoli

@policyalternatives.ca Oct 8, 2026, 2:31 PMReposted by @alonghurst.bsky.social

“We have infrastructure that is sitting idle,” said @alonghurst.bsky.social, a senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). “It’s not funded. #onpoli @policyalternatives.ca
www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...

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