The Municipal Money Mystery: Fiscal Accountability in Canada’s Cities, 2023
by William B.P. Robson and Nicholas Dahir The budgets municipal governments present around the beginning of their fiscal years, and the audited financial statements they publish after year-end, are crucial for decision-making and accountability. A review of the budgets and audited financial statements of 32 major Canadian municipalities reveals a troublingly mixed picture. The fiscal […] Ontario’s 2024 Budget Gets a B with Bill Robson
Populist budgets don’t get A+ grades. But why? And what’s wrong with the budget Ontario’s Conservative government recently tabled? The C.D. Howe Institute’s Bill Robson tells Michael Hainsworth that it’s about more than just deficit spending.
Peter Weltman – What Our Winter Tires and Infrastructure Have in Common
From: Peter Weltman To: Infrastructure observers Date: April 2, 2024 Re: What Our Winter Tires and Infrastructure Have in Common I just booked my appointment to have my winter tires swapped with summer tires. Toronto had little snow this year and whatever arrived melted within a few days, so I feel like I didn’t get my money’s worth from […]Ontario Budget 2024 – The Agenda with Steve Paikin
The Ontario government released its plans for spending for the next year yesterday. But are they priorities sound? C.D. Howe Institute CEO Bill Robson joined the show to discuss.
Reasons a Federal Budget After the Start of the Fiscal Year Could Be Cause for Concern: Don Drummond
C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence Don Drummond joined BNN Bloomberg to talk about the top fiscal considerations for Budget 2024 as well as the significance of the budget being released after the fiscal year begins.
Edward Waitzer – Zombie Thinking is Not Helping Effective Corporate Governance
From: Edward Waitzer To: Corporate governance observers Date: March 5, 2024 Re: Zombie Thinking is Not Helping Effective Corporate Governance Corporate governance and leadership best practices are typically based on intuition, self-serving opinion and rhetoric, and not often enough on real best practices and evidence. This has led zombie thinking based on “dead ideas that still walk among us,” […]We must do away with ‘zombie governance’ in the corporate world – Globe and Mail
In the book Zombie Economics, John Quiggin explained how dead ideas – assumptions about market economics refuted by the 2008-09 financial crisis – live on in the minds of many people, including those charged with cleaning up the mess. While not supported by evidence or analysis, these narratives persist as “dead ideas that still walk among us.” Why? Largely because they advance the interests of particular (typically elite) groups who want to believe in them and make them true.
Likewise, corporate governance best practices are typically based on intuition, opinion and rhetoric. Such thinking has been elevated – mandated by regulators and rated by a burgeoning class of governance experts for whom such standards become self-…
Must Canada leave a mountain of debt to future generations? – Globe and Mail
The 2023 fall economic statement projected large deficits through 2028-29 and a net debt-to-GDP ratio that rises in 2024-25 and then declines only slightly, remaining well above the prepandemic level through 2028-29. Interest payments eat up almost 14 per cent of revenue. The 2024 budget must correct this imprudent treatment of risk.
Debt’s risk is lost opportunity. When servicing costs rise, more tax dollars have to go toward financing the debt, leaving less room for more meaningful expenditure.
The federal government justified the deficits and debt by showing the net debt-to-GDP ratio declining through 2055-56. This is not credible.
First, high debt produces economic costs, even if sustainable under the narrow…
Smarter Government for Turbulent Times
The current spending review underway in Ottawa is a modest start and should be followed by more comprehensive, regular strategic reviews of spending and programs drawing from past Canadian and international experience. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a burgeoning deficit and new expenditures, and the rapidly changing economic and security climate, the […] Benjamin Dachis – Unbalanced Burden: The Case Against High Property Tax Rates on Multi-Residential Buildings in Ontario
To: Ontario’s Ministers of Finance and Municipal Affairs and Housing cc: Association of Municipalities of Ontario; City of Toronto From: Benjamin Dachis Date: January 24, 2024 Re: Unbalanced Burden: The Case Against High Property Tax Rates on Multi-Residential Buildings in Ontario Should a renter only be able to use half the number of municipal roads as […]William B.P. Robson – Toronto’s Annual Budget Panic Ignores Its Surplus
From: William B.P. Robson To: Toronto budget watchers Date: January 23, 2024 Re: Toronto’s Annual Budget Panic Ignores Its Surplus The annual panic over the City of Toronto budget is peaking. The 2024 version stands out in a bad way, with a double-digit tax increase proposed for homeowners and many businesses. Yet much of the ritual is familiar. […] Gripped by Toronto’s annual budget panic? Just wait for the surplus – Globe and Mail
The annual panic over the City of Toronto budget is peaking. The 2024 version stands out in a bad way, with a double-digit tax increase proposed for homeowners and many businesses. Yet much of the ritual is familiar. For one thing, it is late: The city is already collecting and spending money council has not approved. Worse, the dire numbers from city staff last week are long on alarm and short on useful information.
Suppose you are preparing a year-ahead budget for your family, or a business or non-profit. You start with recent experience. Your last complete year is key, because you have actual revenue and expenses for that year, and know the difference between them – your surplus or deficit. The current year isn’t yet over –…