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1. Actually, Canada has a great deal of economic mobility

   Is Canada no longer a place where people can improve their economic standing through the pursuit of education, skills development and hard work? That’s certainly the impression some would have us believe. For example, the recent ...

2. Why is Canada’s federal government running a deficit?

   Canada’s federal government has embarked on a path of substantial deficit financing with no concrete target laid out of when the budget might be expected to balance. The deficit will be $5.4 billion in 2015-16, $29.4 billion in 2016-17, ...

3. Infrastructure a small share of the Liberal $29.4 billion deficit

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, April 2, 2016 A major theme in the lead-up to the recent federal budget was a commitment to increased infrastructure spending. The Liberals gave the impression that infrastructure would be a key driver of their deficit spending ...

4. Why did the planned surplus in 2015/16 turn to deficit? Higher federal spending

   With much of the focus on last week’s federal budget being on the $29.4 billion deficit expected in 2016/17, an important takeaway that largely flew under the media radar is what caused the surplus that the former government had planned ...

5. Liberal spending increases drive big deficits, not a weak economy

   Appeared in the Financial Post, March 29, 2016 In advance of tabling their first budget, the Liberals conveyed a message that deteriorating government finances were the result of a weak economy. The reality of the budget is quite different from the ...

6. Budget 2016—A missed opportunity to reform senior benefits

   Last week’s federal budget included a proposal to increase the top-up benefit for some of Canada’s most vulnerable seniors. This may well be a good move since the policy will provide assistance to seniors who actually need it, namely ...

7. Infrastructure spending OK, but that’s not what the Liberals proposed

   The dust is settling from the Liberal government’s first budget, which proposed large spending increases, some tax hikes, and deficits throughout their mandate with no balanced budget in sight. Some of the details of the budget, which ...

8. William Watson: budget numbers we really need—benefit per dollar spent at the margin

   My very favourite line from this week’s federal budget is “There are no public transit systems in Nunavut.” This is from a note to a table on page 92 of the Budget Plan. Well, duh, of course there aren’t any public transit systems in ...

9. Budget 2016—spending is driving the deficits

   Leading up to their first budget, the Liberals argued that deteriorating economic conditions would require the government to run much larger deficits than had been promised. And the budget did indeed produce bigger deficits. But ...

10. Rhetoric about First Nations employment doesn’t match up with government’s first budget

    In his first budget speech, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau (pictured above) highlighted the importance of helping aboriginal Canadians gain employment and enter the market economy. He stated in the house that: “We simply cannot ...