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1. Trudeau government—and provincial governments across Canada—can learn from past fiscal consolidations

   Introduction Prior to the COVID recession, Canada faced significant fiscal challenges. These challenges were most severe at the provincial level. For example, Ontario had run uninterrupted deficits for over a decade, while Alberta had ...

2. Even in a weakened state, Alberta still props up federal finances

   Appeared in the Edmonton Journal, May 21, 2019 Albertans have endured more than their share of economic pain over the past several years. The province is still emerging from one of the worst recessions in its history and the recovery has been tepid and ...

3. Canada’s Past Fiscal Leaders Are Now Fiscal Laggards: An Analysis of 2017 Provincial Budgets

   Around the turn of the 21st century, Alberta and Ontario could both boast of having comparatively sound public finances relative to most other provinces. In recent years, however, serious fiscal problems have emerged in both provinces. Alberta and Ontario ...

4. Blame game aside, the Trudeau government should accept responsibility for its spending choices

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, July 15, 2017 On the campaign trail in 2015, Justin Trudeau's Liberals promised to hold federal deficits to $10 billion or less during their first few years in office before returning to a balanced budget in 2019/20. ...

5. Another broken promise—federal government ditches latest fiscal pledge

   By 2019/20, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio is forecasted to be 31.5 per cent. ...

6. More federal dollars won’t cure Ontario’s health-care problems

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, October 26, 2016 Once again, Ontario’s provincial government claims it needs more money from Ottawa to fund its programs. This time, the immediate cause for Ontario’s complaint is the Liberal government in Ottawa’s decision to ...

7. Federal finances and the irony behind Ottawa’s new ‘stress test’

   Appeared in the Financial Post, October 18, 2016 Ottawa recently announced a series of new regulations for the housing market to “protect the long-term financial security of borrowers and all Canadians.” You have to love the irony. While the federal ...

8. New federal polices worsen old problem of discouraging work in Canada

   Appeared in the Financial Post, August 31, 2016 Last month the federal government’s new Canada Child Benefit program came into force, replacing and consolidating an assortment of previous programs. However, little attention has been given to how this ...

9. Liberal spending increases drive big deficits, not a weak economy

   Appeared in the Financial Post, March 29, 2016 In advance of tabling their first budget, the Liberals conveyed a message that deteriorating government finances were the result of a weak economy. The reality of the budget is quite different from the ...