Search

Search results

1. Ontario lagging behind neighbours on key economic measures

   Between 2000 and 2019, New York's average per-person GDP growth more than doubled Ontario's growth rate. ...

2. Debt interest payments fastest-growing component of Ontario budget

   The government has run budget deficits every year since 2008/09. ...

3. 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 ...

4. Ontario’s new finance minister must recognize the importance of budget balance

   Appeared in National Newswatch, January 14, 2021 With the resignation of Rod Phillips, Ontario’s incoming finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy inherits a difficult job. The province’s fiscal challenges long pre-date the global pandemic. Queen’s Park has ...

5. 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 ...

6. 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 ...

7. 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 ...

8. 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 ...

9. 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 ...

10. Ontario should learn from Quebec’s debt reduction

    Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, November 13, 2019 Ontario is in debt, big time. And the Ford government does not have a plan to meaningfully reduce that debt burden. In fact, compared to Quebec, a province which had a well-earned reputation for poor fiscal ...