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1. Ontario’s decade of spending decadence

   Appeared in the Windsor Star The Ontario government has never made a secret of its desire to have the federal government help fund Ontario’s provincial budget. It even started its own think-tank with $5 million in 2009, which regularly publishes reports ...

2. Government budgets are like volcanoes: It’s what underneath that counts

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Imagine you’re near what you thought was a dormant volcano but it suddenly erupts. Assuming you escape, you might later reflect that there was nothing “sudden” about it. The eruption resulted from earlier events deep within ...

3. Ontario’s 2015 Budget: an exercise in wishful thinking

   Appeared in the Financial Post Ontario’s 2015 budget, like those of years past, needed a concrete plan to get government finances on a sound footing. Yet again, the budget failed to deliver. Instead, the government continues to delay the tough decisions ...

4. More compensation restraint would help ease Ontario’s budget troubles

   Appeared in the Waterloo Region Record, April 9, 2015 Amid a gathering fiscal storm, the Ontario government will soon table its budget for the coming fiscal year and beyond. There’s a lot riding on getting things right. A recent study found that debt is ...

5. Quebec budget shows progress but bolder fiscal reforms still needed

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, April 4, 2015 The day before delivering his budget speech, Quebec Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão called the budget a “good news budget.” Indeed, Quebec’s 2015 budget continues to make progress on tackling deep ...

6. The Texas Advantage over Alberta

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Alberta and Texas have always had a lot in common. Ranching in the 19th century. A can-do entrepreneurial approach to oil and gas in the 20th century. And in the 21st century they are still somewhat similar; oil and gas ...

7. Alberta’s budget: $11.4 billion in extra taxes

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Premier Jim Prentice dropped hints for months that the 2015 provincial budget was a once-in-a-generation chance to “fix” Alberta’s finances. That didn’t happen. Instead, the province raised taxes on Albertans in a manner ...

8. Budget 2015: Quebec’s twin fiscal challenges require bold action

   Premier Philippe Couillard recently declared that government finances and the economy are his top priorities, stating that “the goal is clear: consolidation of public finances and economic re-launch.” This is laudable. ...

9. Western weakness won’t help Ontario’s budget woes

   Appeared in the National Post With the plunge in oil prices over the last six months (and already soft natural gas prices), it’s not headline news to note that provinces heavily dependent on energy-related revenues are suffering. The decline in the ...

10. Balancing the Ontario budget by 2017-18 just a pipe dream

    Appeared in Waterloo Region Record, Stratford Beacon Herald, Woodstock Sentinel Review, and Winnipeg Free Press Ontario’s provincial government wants a balanced budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year, and Finance Minister Charles Sousa is adamant that Ontario ...