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1. State of federal finances worse than previously thought

   The latest federal budget showed that public finances are in poor shape and Ottawa is ill-prepared for a possible economic recession. But a recent Parliamentary Budget Office report suggests the situation may be worse than the government ...

2. Provincial and local governments should make infrastructure decisions, not Ottawa

   Last week, and as part of Ottawa’s multi-billion infrastructure spending plan, Amarjeet Sohi, federal minister of infrastructure and communities, wrote letters to his ministerial counterparts in each province and territory laying out ...

3. Prime Minister Trudeau selling Canadians false bill of goods on infrastructure

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, May 19, 2017 You’d think that a prime minister would be intimately familiar with one of his government’s signature policy initiatives. However, regarding Ottawa’s multi-billion dollar infrastructure plan, a recent ...

4. Only 10.6% of Ottawa's nearly $100 billion in new infrastructure spending is for trade and transportation

   Charles Lammam, director of Fiscal Studies at the Fraser Institute, recently provided testimony to the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance about the federal government’s infrastructure plan. Here’s a transcript of his testimony ...

5. Trudeau government stretches definition of ‘infrastructure’ too far

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, April 2, 2017 The 2017 federal budget revealed new details on the Trudeau government’s nearly $100 billion infrastructure spending plan. Canadians should know that, contrary to the government’s rhetoric, much of this spending ...

6. Only 20.6% of Alberta’s $35 billion capital spending plan will pay for roads and bridges

   When the Notley government unveils Alberta’s 2017 budget next week, it will likely trumpet its multi-billion infrastructure spending plan as a way to grow Alberta’s faltering economy. That was certainly the message in the recent speech ...

7. Federal government’s infrastructure plan unlikely to spur economic growth

   Appeared in the Financial Post, March 8, 2017 In their campaigning, and since coming into power, the Trudeau Liberals have talked a lot about wanting to grow the economy to better serve Canada’s middle class. And they have pinned their economic hopes ...

8. Infrastructure spending in Canada—myths and reality

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Sun, March 3, 2017 In the coming weeks, the Trudeau government and several provincial governments will release budgets that will include plans to collectively spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure over the coming ...

9. Myths of Infrastructure Spending in Canada

   As the federal government and several provincial governments plan on collectively spending hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decade on infrastructure, this report dispels five common myths used to argue for why now is a good time to ramp up ...

10. Ottawa’s fiscal plan not really about growth-maximizing infrastructure

    Appeared in the Toronto Sun, November 13, 2016 Since coming into power, the federal Liberals have said they would pursue deficit spending to make investments that will drive Canada’s long-term economic growth. As Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently put ...