William Robson on BNN Bloomberg – Freeland’s Exit and Ottawa’s Slipshod Financial Reporting

Our President and CEO William Robson appeared on BNN Bloomberg in the wake of Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resignation to discuss the worrisome state of Ottawa’s books.

Glen Hodgson – Canada Post is Stuck in a Time Warp. Is There a Way Out?

Robson, Dahir – The Worrying Delay in the Release of the Federal Government’s Public Accounts

Published in The Globe and Mail.

In recent years, the federal government’s fiscal management has looked increasingly slipshod. The unprecedented deficits and buildup of debt, the explosive increase in the number and cost of federal employees, and the addition of tens of billions to the spending projections in each successive budget and fiscal update are unsettling, but so, too, is the erosion of accountability in budgets and in the public accounts.

Ottawa is delivering a fall economic statement on Monday – so late that it’s barely fall any more. The government failed to deliver a budget at all in 2020 – something that had never happened before – and presented three of the four budgets since then after the April 1 beginning…

Gregg Lintern – Canada’s Housing Crisis Is About More Than Just Supply

Ho, Ho, Hold the GST Holiday

The holidays may be about eating to excess, but Ottawa’s “GST Holiday” is little more than “fiscal junk food”.  On this episode of the CDHI podcast, Institute President and CEO Bill Robson and Fellow-in-Residence Don Drummond tell our Michael Hainsworth why a two-month tax break isn’t making these public policy elves jolly this holiday season.

Alex Laurin and William Robson – A ‘surplus’ for the Public Service Pension Plan? That’s not real

Published in The Globe and Mail. 

On Nov. 25, the federal government announced that the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) – the plan for federal public-service employees – has an “excess surplus.” By the government’s accounting, the plan’s assets exceed its liabilities by 26.3 per cent, surpassing the 25-per-cent limit permitted by the Income Tax Act. The government plans to transfer the “excess” of approximately $2-billion into its regular budget. This transfer would reduce the federal deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which is likely to exceed the $40-billion target set by the Minister of Finance in the 2023 federal budget.

However, this “excess surplus” is an illusion. The calculations use an artificially high…

Lisa Raitt – Canada’s Housing Crisis is a Test for Policymakers

Lawrence Herman – Shooting Ourselves in the Trade Foot

William Robson on BNN Bloomberg – GST Holiday Would be a ‘Short-Term High’ for Canadians

William B.P. Robson, President and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, warns Ottawa’s proposed GST break may bring temporary relief to Canadians but could be harmful long-term.

Ed Waitzer and Keith Ambachtsheer – Alberta Pensioners Deserve Better Answers About AIMCo Purge

William Robson and Don Drummond – GST holiday feeds Canada’s addiction to populist junk fiscal policy

Published in The Globe and Mail. 

Canadian governments are loudly zealous about protecting us from potentially addictive stuff that could hurt our physical and mental health – think of junk food, booze and other drugs, or misinformation and other online “harms.” Yet they themselves are pushing fiscal junk. The federal government’s latest – a goods and services tax holiday from mid-December to mid-February, 2025, and a $250 handout to everyone with earned income under $150,000 – is yet another feel-good move that undermines our fiscal and economic health.

As with the Ontario government’s recent pledge of a $200 handout for its taxpayers, one big question is: Will the bribe buy the government a bounce in the polls? If…

Fiscal Accountability by the Letters: The Report Card for Canada’s Senior Governments, 2024