Just like that, the Ontario government has decided to eliminate the 15% tax credit given to investors who participate in labour-sponsored funds. The decision, which takes effect before the end of the year, was made because the government believes the venture capital market is healthy and there is no longer any need for tax incentives. This will be a huge blow to VCs such as VenGrowth and GrowthWorks that have used tax credits as a key selling point. At the same time, traditional VCs such as Ventures West, Jefferson Partners and J.L. Albright will toast the fact the playing field just a lot more level. If the Ontario government is looking for new ways to encourage investment in technology, particularly start-ups, it should look into providing investors with larger capital gains limits. This might direct more money into the hands of fledgling entrepreneurs, who are desperately looking for growth capital.

My wife shakes her head sometimes over the torrid affair I'm having with blogs. First, it was a technology blog. Then I needed a blog to rant about Toronto, and now my newest time-consuming creation: The Best Blogs blog. The concept, which stems from my frustration with blog search engines, is focused on building a database of the best blogs - something along the lines of the early days of Yahoo when a team of editors manually created a Web site library. I haven't nailed down the exact methodology yet but The Best Blogs won't be based on the most links or most hits but rather their quality. How do I define "quality"? I'm not sure but hopefully you know it when you see it. I'd like to make it a community-based effort so if you've got suggestions, head over The Best Blogs and post a comment.

John Bitove certainly knows how to work it. With Canada's federal government looking at reversing a decision to grant satellite-radio licenses to XM and Sirus, Bitove has gone on the media offensive. He claims his firm, Canadian Satellite Radio, which will operate XM Canada, will be out $8-million if the CRTC reverses its decision. For Bitove, this isn't a lot of cash given CSR could be worth about $700 million in a couple years if subscriber growth meets expectations. The bigger issue is the federal government's willingness to make the satellite-radio decision a political process. With an election later this year, the Liberal Party is looking for all the support it can get. If this means pandering to voters in Quebec, who are upset with the satellite-radio decision because it doesn't include enough French-language stations, the Liberals will do what it takes to ensure their future support. Everyone knows the CRTC is a plagued by political pressure but it's troubling that the Liberal Party's is willing to interfere with well-considered decision involving an industry potentially worth $2-billion that has proven to be a smash-hit in the U.S. Bitove, who stands to become even richer from satellite radio, has every right to go on the warpath.