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1. Ontario continues to accumulate debt more quickly than Quebec

   Quebec reduced its debt-to-GDP ratio by 3.4 per cent. ...

2. Ford government must plot path to budget balance

   Appeared in National Newswatch, February 18, 2021 The Ford government released Ontario’s 2020/21 third quarter fiscal update last week. As expected, the numbers were ugly. The Department of Finance now anticipates a $38.5 billion budget deficit for this ...

3. Ford’s deficit-reduction plan reminiscent of Rae, McGuinty, Wynne years

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, November 5, 2020 On Thursday, the Ford government tabled its budget for the 2020/21 fiscal year, revealing plans to run some of the largest deficits in Ontario history—not just this year, but in years to come. For fiscal year ...

4. Premier Ford’s choice is clear—more government debt or real reform

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, August 15, 2020 On Wednesday, Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips released the province’s first quarter finances for the 2020/2021 fiscal year. The update is sobering to anybody concerned about Ontario’s well-being. The ...

5. Restore market forces to end Ontario’s hydro mess

   Appeared in the Financial Post, August 12, 2020 The cost of electricity has been a drain on Ontario’s economy and public finances for decades. Successive governments have meddled more and more in the market for electricity, with Ontario ratepayers and ...

6. Ford government must prepare for post-COVID spending cuts

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, May 5, 2020 Recently, RBC Economics published new estimates of this year’s deficits and debt accumulation for all 10 Canadian provinces. The news was predictably grim. According to forecasts, all provinces will run large ...

7. Ontarians shoulder provincial government debt—and big chunk of federal debt

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, January 23, 2020 It’s widely known that the Ford government is fighting a big budget deficit and mounting debt. But it’s not just provincial government decisions that affect how much new government debt falls on Ontarians. The ...

8. Ford government’s upcoming second budget should include real fiscal reform

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, January 15, 2020 It’s no secret that Ontario faces a large debt problem. At $24,000 per Ontarian and climbing, Ontario’s in a deep hole. That, combined with the absence of plan to meaningfully reduce the province’s debt burden ...

9. Ford government must get serious about reducing government debt

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, January 8, 2020 Throughout the 2010s, then-premier Kathleen Wynne’s government repeatedly said the goal was to return the province’s fiscal position back to where it was before the 2008/09 recession. Specifically, that meant a ...

10. Say goodbye to Ontario’s ‘lost decade’ of debt and economic pain

    Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, December 18, 2019 The 2010s are drawing to a close. Unfortunately, it was a disastrous decade for the Ontario government’s financial health. It’s worth looking back at the damage to help us understand the importance of not ...