Published in the Financial Post
The budgets that show a city’s plans for the upcoming fiscal year and the audited financial statements that report its results after year-end are crucial tools both for the city councillors who steward public funds and for the public that holds them accountable. But, as the C.D. Howe Institute’s latest scorecard on the transparency and accountability of Canada’s 32 largest municipalities reveals, many city budgets remain opaque. They are more likely to confuse councillors and the public than inform them.
Unlike their budgets, the financial statements of Canadian municipalities are comprehensible even to people who aren’t experts. They present revenues, expenses and the bottom-line…
Published in the Financial Post
Media reports abound with speculation about how Bank of Canada interest rate cuts will lift the Canadian housing market. To be sure, you hear cautionary notes that the rate cuts that began with last week’s 25-basis-point cut will likely be slow. Less has been said, however, about how for many homeowners lower rates won’t actually reduce borrowing costs.
Variable-rate mortgages should see a full and immediate response to the rate cuts. But the 2024 CMHC Mortgage Consumer Survey shows only 23 per cent of mortgages are variable rate, five per cent are a fixed/variable combination and 69 per cent are fixed rate. The most common fixed-rate mortgages are for five years although three-year terms…
Published in the Financial Post
Canada’s financial regulator is in a ticklish situation. On March 6, United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signalled that U.S. regulators are reconsidering their plans to hike capital requirements for large banks in accordance with what is commonly referred to as the “international Basel III endgame agreement.”
The obvious question? Should Canada’s counterpart, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI), follow suit? The obvious answer? In my view, yes, the OSFI should suspend its plans to implement similar changes for the six major Canadian banks until it is clear whether the U.S. and other major jurisdictions actually proceed.
The Basel…
