Search

Search results

1. Government spending varies widely across major Ontario municipalities

   Burlington spent nearly 17 per cent of tax-financed expenditure on “general government.” ...

2. Successive Ontario governments increased net debt from $139 billion to $338 billion

   The Ford government today released its fall economic and fiscal update, which includes taxation and spending changes, with Finance Minister Vic Fedeli noting that the "fiscal hole is deep.” However, perhaps the most telling ...

3. Municipal spending in Ontario—a snapshot

   With municipal elections looming across the country, voters should be aware of the fiscal sustainability of city hall. The federal Parliamentary Budget Office’s recent sustainability report has noted that for subnational governments in ...

4. Ontario has a $15 billion deficit—not the $6.7 billion claimed by the previous government

   The Ontario government’s review of provincial finances is finally out, and the picture is even grimmer than what the auditor general and the Financial Accountability Office have presented. The key findings confirm that Ontario since 1990 ...

5. Austerity—not increased spending—helped lay the groundwork for Portugal’s recovery

   Portugal’s economy has been doing rather well lately and its performance is being taken as a repudiation of the austerity measures of many EU countries in the wake of the Great Recession. A recent piece in the New York Times noted how in ...

6. The key fiscal lesson of Canada’s first 150 years—spend prudently

   As 2017 draws to a close, Canadians can reflect not only on the outcomes of the last year, but in this milestone 150th year of the federation, also where we are headed. What shall Canada’s economic achievements be as the next 50 years ...

7. Government spending—the problem in Newfoundland and Labrador

   The public finances of Newfoundland and Labrador are in a bit of a pickle after a period that saw considerable improvement as the province benefitted from the offshore oil and gas boom. In the wake of the collapse of the cod fisheries in ...

8. New Brunswick—lowest real GDP and employment growth rates in Canada

   While Atlantic Canada faces economic challenges, the case of New Brunswick has become particularly stark. Over the past decade, New Brunswick has experienced the lowest provincial growth rates in real GDP and employment. And like the ...

9. Despite likely balanced budget, Ontario’s deficit dragon not dead yet

   Finance Minister Charles Sousa will deliver Ontario’s spring budget on April 27 and the expectation is that Ontario will deliver a balanced budget for the first time since the onset of the Great Recession. Ontario has now run nine ...

10. A brief federal budget history—Canada, 1867-2017

    Appeared in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, March 13, 2017 The upcoming federal budget comes in Canada’s 150th year—an important milestone for what is perhaps the most successful country in the world. The evolution of federal finances since 1867 ...