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1. Ontario consistently fails to reduce government debt after recessions

   The province’s nominal debt will rise from $440 billion in 2021/22 to $504 billion in 2023/24. ...

2. 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. ...

3. Lessons for the Ford Government from the 1995 Federal Budget

   Chronic deficits since the 2008/09 recession have weakened Ontario’s public finances. The province’s debt-to-GDP ratio—a key measure of fiscal sustainability—increased from 27.8 percent to an estimated 47.0 percent of GDP by the end of 2020/21. ...

4. Ontario’s debt legacy makes balancing budget harder

   According to the 2020 budget, the government will spend an estimated $12.5 billion on debt interest. ...

5. Three recessions tell Ontario’s debt story

   It’s widely known that Ontario carries a significant debt burden. At the end of the 2019 fiscal year, Ontario’s debt stood at approximately $355 billion. RBC Economics forecasts that by the end of this year Ontario’s debt-to-GDP ratio (a ...

6. Ford’s former finance minister proffers sound advice for his successor

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, June 26, 2019 Last week, Premier Doug Ford announced a major cabinet shuffle in Ontario. Among the most important moves was the removal of Vic Fedeli (pictured above) as finance minister, to be replaced by Rod Phillips. ...

7. What can Doug Ford learn from Jean Chretien?

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, July 5, 2018 Recently, the credit rating agency Fitch lowered Ontario’s credit rating outlook. Specifically, while maintaining the provincial government’s “AA” rating, our outlook was changed from “stable” to “negative,” ...

8. Ontario’s net debt may hit $500 billion by 2026-27

   The size of Ontario’s provincial deficit has become a matter of some debate. The Wynne government’s 2018 budget projected a deficit of $6.7 billion. But according to a recent report from the auditor general, Ontario’s deficit may be even ...

9. Ontario now adding debt even faster than before

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, April 4, 2018 Last week, Finance Minister Charles Sousa tabled Ontario’s budget for 2018/19. The fact that the free-spending budget creates an operating deficit of nearly $7 billion this year has been widely reported, but this ...

10. The Wynne budget—more spending, more fiscal problems, more debt

    Appeared in the Toronto Sun, March 29, 2018 Finance Minister Charles Sousa has tabled Ontario’s 2018 budget. And above all else, the pre-election document is characterized by a complete absence of fiscal discipline and dangerous willingness to saddle ...