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1. Ford government counting on revenue growth to outpace spending

   Well, it’s been several weeks since the first Ford government tabled it’s first budget and a more detailed analysis suggests it’s a fiscally gradualist budget whose aim is to reduce expenditure growth below the rate of revenue growth to ...

2. Rising interest payments will make Ford’s life harder

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, April 24, 2019 Based on its first budget, the Ford government has settled on a gradualist approach to deficit reduction. Rather than reform and reduce spending, the government plans to try to hold the rate of spending growth ...

3. Ford government following fiscal strategy of its predecessors

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, April 17, 2019 Last week, Premier Ford’s government tabled its budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year. Those hoping for a fast path to fiscal recovery were likely disappointed. The budget forecasts another deficit of more than $10 ...

4. Ford's first budget must fulfill campaign promises

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, April 10, 2019 Clearly, Ontario’s finances are in bad shape. With a government debt load of more than $23,000 per resident and a 10-figure annual budget deficit, the Ford government has inherited serious challenges. There’s ...

5. Ontario government must freeze nominal spending to close fiscal gap

   Next week, the Ford government will table its first budget and Ontarians will get the clearest signals to-date of this government’s fiscal plans. According to recently-revised fiscal numbers, Ontario has been running deficits since 2008 ...

6. Ford’s first budget—will it continue Wynne’s spend-fest

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, March 13, 2019 With the Ford government’s first budget rapidly approaching, the new government faces many economic challenges. Job one, however, should be eliminating the province’s $13.5 billion budget deficit and staunching ...

7. Ford government should heed lessons of recent fiscal history

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, February 21, 2019 In last week’s fiscal update, Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli had a little bit of good news. Ontario’s budget deficit for this year is now forecasted to be $1 billion less than previously thought, at $13 ...

8. Ford government should recognize 'recession' risks of huge deficit

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, February 13, 2019 Ontario is running a $14.5 billion budget deficit, and there are many reasons to worry about that. Most obviously, such a big deficit means the province will add substantially to its huge debt load, which is ...

9. Government spending burying Ontarians in debt

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, January 30, 2019 The combination of growing provincial and federal government debt is creating a significant burden for current and future Ontarians. To stop adding to this burden, policymakers in Toronto and Ottawa must ...

10. Big deficits or slash-and-burn—the Ford government’s false choice

    Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, November 28, 2018 The Toronto Sun recently published a letter to the editor from Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli (pictured above) objecting to my last column —specifically, my assertion that the government’s mini-budget ...