Colin Busby

Colin Busby is a research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). Before joining the IRPP, he was the associate director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute. He has also worked at Industry Canada and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Articles

Alberta and Newfoundland: A tale of a boom and a bust

The 2018 budget season, now winding up, underscores a stunning reversal in the fiscal fortunes of Canada’s provinces. Five years ago, who would have guessed that in 2018 Quebec would be leading Canada in fiscal …

Big hurdles remain in pharmacare implementation plan

The national pharmacare advisory council’s ambitious report presents a staged, eight-year plan to reduce drug costs and make public drug coverage universal with the participation of the provinces. But there are major stumbling blocks ahead. …

Don’t overlook product substitution when taxing cannabis

The looming legalization of cannabis pushes policy-makers to focus on cannabis taxation as a means to either raise revenues, curb the illicit market or reduce potential harms associated with consumption. Not to be overlooked is …

The budget’s ambitions must navigate the federation

Ottawa’s lofty ambitions for solving some of Canada’s more thorny policy issues, including plans to redesign the social safety net, are on full display in Budget 2018. But good intentions and great ideas must also …

Water pricing:
infrastructure grants
hinder necessary reform

Canada's municipal water suppliers have numerous well-known operational shortcomings. These include incomplete cost accounting, underpricing, inadequate metering and a lack of emphasis on conservation. This ultimately promotes excessive consumption, overextended infrastructure, stifled innovation and diminished …

The past, present and future of pharmacare

June 12 marked the release of the Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare. The Council recommended that Canada adopt universal, single-payer pharmacare, and set out a plan for how …

Budget 2019 analysis live from the lockup

What were the highlights of the 2019 federal budget? Policy Options editor-in-chief Jennifer Ditchburn, IRPP research directors Colin Busby and Natalia Mishagina, and Veldon Coburn of Carleton University's Indigenous Studies program share their insights during this special …

Canada’s cannabis economy

What kind of economic impact can we expect from recreational cannabis legalization? Contributors to our Policy Options feature series The Economics of Canadian Cannabis join the "potcast" to discuss. Colin Busby, IRPP research director and co-editor …

Budget 2018 analysis live from the lockup

What were the highlights of the 2018 federal budget? Policy Options Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Ditchburn, IRPP Research Director Colin Busby and Jennifer Robson, assistant professor of political management at Carleton University's Kroeger College weigh in. Download for …

Policy Options