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1. Trudeau government poised to embrace much more federal debt

   Starting in the mid-1980s, Canada’s federal fiscal policy focused heavily on trying to limit the accumulation of debt and push down (or at least prevent) growth in Ottawa’s debt-to-GDP ratio. To achieve this objective, successive ...

2. Kenney should draw inspiration from Klein reforms and reduce spending quickly

   Appeared in the Edmonton Sun, February 9, 2021 Back in the early 1990s, in the face of serious fiscal challenges, former premier Ralph Klein changed the trajectory of Alberta’s government finances and set the stage for a decade of fiscal stability. Today, ...

3. Lessons for Fiscal Reform from the Klein Era

   Alberta is facing serious fiscal challenges, including a historic deficit and rapid debt accumulation that extend beyond the COVID shock. This is not the first time Alberta’s finances have been in trouble. Today’s situation has parallels to the ...

4. Trudeau government wage subsidy program likely not worth the price tag

   To state the obvious, the Trudeau government’s response to COVID-19 (and the resulting recession) has been expensive. Ottawa forecasts a federal budget deficit of at least $381.6 billion this year, primarily due to the response. What’s ...

5. Despite spending less on public schools, Quebec outperforms most other provinces

   Appeared in the Financial Post, January 11, 2021 As the provinces face large budget deficits, governments across Canada should find ways to deliver services more efficiently. Fortunately, Canada’s federation—composed of federal, provincial and local ...

6. Heavy reliance on Ottawa puts Atlantic Canada’s finances at risk

   The three Maritime provinces rely more heavily on federal transfers than any other province. ...

7. Atlantic Canada’s population is getting older faster

   The four Atlantic provinces have the largest share of residents over the age of 65 in Canada. ...

8. Freer trade will benefit Atlantic provinces more than others

   Appeared in National Newswatch, December 17, 2020 When many people think about threats to free and open trade to Canada, they immediately consider the protectionist outlook of outgoing President Donald Trump. In 2020, another obstacle to the free movement ...

9. National economy relies heavily on Toronto and Vancouver housing markets

   A recent Fraser Institute study showed that over the past decade, economic growth in British Columbia has heavily relied on the residential housing boom in the Lower Mainland. B.C.’s growth has been highly leveraged directly to housing ...

10. Kenney government must control spending to stop Alberta’s fiscal fall

    Appeared in the Edmonton Sun, December 16, 2020 We recently released a study showing that the “fiscal capacity” gap between richer and poorer provinces has shrunk dramatically in recent years. In a nutshell, fiscal capacity refers to each province’s ...