TORONTO, February 17, 2003 -- On the eve of federal Finance Minister John Manley’s first budget tomorrow, York University scholars, in areas ranging from fiscal to social policy, are available to offer up informed and timely comment.
Joanne Magee is a professor of taxation in York's Atkinson School of Administrative Studies. Magee, an expert on Canadian income tax law, served as a member of the Women and Tax Working Group of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission. She recently co-authored Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (Carswell, 2002), which is frequently quoted in tax cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. She can comment on expected changes in the rules for RRSPs and pensions, as well as on the corporate capital tax. At home: 416-483-3959, email: Joanne.Magee@mail.atkinson.yorku.ca.
Daniel Drache, a professor of political economy at York and director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, is co-author of Health Reform: Public Success, Private Failure (Routledge, 1999). He can comment on health care spending, tax relief and the debt. Phone: 416-736-5415, or at home, 416-921-3332, email: drache@yorku.ca.
Brigitte Kitchen, a professor in York's Atkinson School of Social Work, was a member of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission and is a founding member of the Child Poverty Action Group. She can comment on changes to the child tax benefit, child poverty and the need for a national strategy on childcare. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 66324, at home: 416-762-3426, email: bkitchen@yorku.ca.
Robert Drummond, dean of York's Faculty of Arts and a political science professor with extensive knowledge of public policy, says he expects this will be Prime Minister Jean Chretien's "legacy" budget. He says that health care is likely to be the main beneficiary. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 22205, at home: 416-494-3460, email: robertd@yorku.ca.
Moshe Milevsky is a finance professor who specializes in markets and global capital at York University's Schulich School of Business. He has written extensively on RRSPs and investing. He can discuss the budget’s impact on individual investors and the investment community. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 66014, email: milevsky@yorku.ca.
Patrick Monahan, associate dean and a professor of law at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, favours significant tax relief as an incentive to keep highly skilled professionals from leaving Canada. He can comment on the Employment Insurance Act and how he expects Manley to bring premiums into line with the cost of the program. Phone: 416-736-5568, email: pmonahan@yorku.ca.
Dennis Raphael, the undergraduate program director and a professor in York's Atkinson School of Health Policy and Management, says that federal spending must include housing and alleviate child poverty. Raphael can also comment on the child tax benefit and child care. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 22134, email: draphael@yorku.ca.
Joel Lexchin, a Toronto emergency medicine physician and professor in York's Atkinson School of Health Policy and Management, was part of a research consortium retained by the Romanow commission to study the effects of globalization on the Canadian health system, particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals. He says Canada’s healthcare system should include a national pharmacare program to ensure that no one has to choose between paying the rent and buying the medication they need. Phone: 416-736-2100, ext. 22119, at home: 416-964-7186, email: jlexchin@yorku.ca.
-30-
For further information, or additional experts, please contact:
| Ken Turriff |
| Media Relations |
| York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 |
| kturriff@yorku.ca |
YU/011/03
