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1. Ontario premier's fiscal imprudence is reckless

   Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press and Flin Flon Reminder, Jan 25, 2015 How governments manage their finances matters a great deal. Spend and borrow too much and the result is a spiral of increasing deficits that create ever higher debt. Then, ever-more ...

2. Premier Prentice is wrong about Alberta’s single tax

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald and National Post After governments abandon fiscal prudence, they will soon search for any and all ways to tax people more. This is the reality playing out in Alberta where Premier Jim Prentice has floated multiple tax ...

3. Does Alberta need a sales tax?

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, Jan 17, 2015 With oil prices plunging and provincial resource revenues expected to drop, Alberta’s red ink will rise. In response, Premier Jim Prentice has floated the notion of a provincial sales tax and/or hikes in other ...

4. The Practical Challenges of Creating a Guaranteed Annual Income in Canada

   The idea of replacing the existing income support system with an unconditional cash transfer from government to individuals or families to provide a minimum annual income has entered and exited Canadian policy discussions for decades, with support coming ...

5. Worried about Alberta’s budget? Stop counting on high resource prices

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Forty-one billion dollars. That’s the extra amount, over and above what was needed to keep pace with population growth and inflation between 2006 and 2013, this to fund Alberta government program spending in those years. So ...

6. Prentice’s Path: Getty or Klein?

   Appeared in the Financial Post Alberta Premier Jim Prentice is in the midst of formulating his first budget and the fiscal path of the province while watching oil prices continue to decline. In this environment, the key question for the new premier is: ...

7. Post-boom Spending in Alberta: A $41 billion splurge and lost opportunities

   The province of Alberta substantially increased program spending after 2004/05, beyond the combined effect of inflation plus population growth. The result was that in subsequent years (2005/06 to 2012/13 inclusive), the province spent $300.5 billion—$41 ...

8. How Alberta blew through an extra $41 billion

   Appeared in the National Post Governments, like families, have choices. And governments, as with families, sometimes make picks that close off other options. Spend a lot of money on having dinner out every night and that might foreclose the purchase of a ...

9. Capital Budgeting and Fiscal Sustainability in British Columbia

   The opening sentence of British Columbia’s Budget and Fiscal Plan 2014/15–2016/17 states: “ Budget 2014 affirms government’s ability to balance its budget on an ongoing basis.” That statement refers to the operating budget. However, the province’s ...

10. Is there any wonder why Ontario is in the state it's in?

    Appeared in the Financial Post As Ontario continues to undermine its economic future with growing debt, the province does not receive near the critical scrutiny it should from the media and financial markets. In reading CIBC World Markets’ latest Economic ...