Shadow Budget 2023 with Bill Robson and Don Drummond
In episode three of the C.D. Howe Institute Podcast, we ask what should Federal Budget 2023 look like? According to the C.D. Howe Institute’s CEO Bill Robson and Fellow-in-Residence Don Drummond, Ottawa needs to reign-in spending or risk re-accelerating inflation. But what about climbing debt loads, a healthcare system in crisis, and the constant march of climate change?
La gouvernance doit-elle devenir woke? – La Presse Op-Ed
La réponse à ma question provocatrice dépend du sens donné à l’expression. Non, si on considère la caricature faite par la droite dure aux États-Unis. Oui, si on retient l’orientation d’un rapport sur l’avenir de la gouvernance d’entreprise au Canada.
Si on redonne au mot woke son sens « d’éveillé », à l’évidence il y a longtemps qu’on demande aux administrateurs de ne plus dormir au gaz. Mais on s’attend maintenant à ce qu’ils « s’éveillent » à un plus large éventail de questions sociales et environnementales.
La gouvernance d’entreprise réfère à l’ensemble des règles et des comportements d’un conseil d’administration, notamment sa relation avec le PDG pour établir la stratégie et en…
Robson, Dahir – Wake Up Cities, Your Budgets are Late (Again)
From: William B.P. Robson and Nick Dahir To: Canadian Taxpayers Date: January 5, 2023 Re: Wake Up Cities, Your Budgets are Late (Again) The festive season should be a time to look back on work well done. In far too many Canadian cities, however, one key task remained incomplete. Canadian municipalities outside Nova Scotia run on a calendar […]Duncan Munn – A New Year’s Resolution: Let’s Embrace Realism
From: Duncan Munn To: Canada’s Political Class Date: January 4, 2023 Re: A New Year’s Resolution: Let’s Embrace Realism The New Year traditionally arrives with resolutions and a fresh start at self-improvement. Here’s a simple suggestion for all political leaders: Embrace more realism in public policy. Let’s look at five areas in which Canada has clear goals, but falls […]A New Year’s resolution for politicians: Let’s embrace realism – Financial Post Op-Ed
The New Year traditionally arrives with resolutions and a fresh start at self-improvement. Here’s one simple suggestion for all political leaders: Embrace more realism in public policy. Let’s consider five areas in which Canada has clear goals, but falls short of realistic plans to achieve them.
First, inflation control. Fiscal authorities must not add more fuel to the inflation fire with new spending even as the Bank of Canada wields its interest-rate hammer. Ottawa needs to show more realism about its spending ambitions. Inflation control is a whole-of-government responsibility. After years of record-breaking spending and deficits, we need a credible plan to improve the nation’s finances and ensure that the…
Federal Spending Keeps Soaring with Each Fall Statement
Successive fiscal updates from the federal Minister of Finance since 2019 show projected federal spending growing by leaps and bounds, even after COVID-related measures drop out of the projections. The government’s last pre-COVID projections, in its 2019 fall economic statement, showed federal spending of $421 billion in the 2024/25 fiscal year, the last year in […] Forget ‘prudence’ and ‘restraint’ — Ottawa’s spending is accelerating – Financial Post Op-Ed
Before the federal government’s Fall Economic Statement last month, we often heard words like “restraint” and “prudence.” Less so afterwards. The statement’s projections confirm that every new forecast from Ottawa shows the federal government getting bigger faster, with every area of spending swelling more by the year.
The government’s last pre-COVID projections were in its 2019 fall statement. The final fiscal year in those projections was 2024/25, when federal spending was slated to hit $421 billion.
The government used the pandemic as an excuse to present no budget in 2020, an unprecedented failure for it and for Parliament as a whole. It did present a fall statement late in the year, however. To compare that…
Why Canada’s economic forecasts must factor in climate change – Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed
Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Office just did something important and long overdue. For the first time, the country’s official financial watchdog quantified the costs of climate change for Canada’s economy, showing that worsening climate impacts are a drag on economic growth. This is a crucial step in beginning to reduce the economic risks Canada can expect in a warming world.
There’s still a long way to go, however, and recent moves by Australia and the United Kingdom can point us in the right direction.
In Canada, our long-term economic projections are largely based on historical averages of productivity that do not account for the fact that the climate is now changing rapidly, bringing with it more…
Robson, Dahir – It’s Fall – Time Governments Told You Where Your Money Went
From: William B.P. Robson and Nick Dahir To: Canadian Taxpayers Date: September 21, 2022 Re: It’s Fall – Time Governments Told You Where Your Money Went We are more than half-way through September. The fiscal years of Canada’s senior governments ended almost six months ago. If these governments were companies listed on Canadian stock exchanges, […] Miville Tremblay – Les partis de l’économie se « lâchent lousse » !
De la part de: Miville Tremblay A l’attention de: Observateurs économique Date: 7 septembre, 2022 Sujet: Les partis de l’économie se «lâchent lousse»! Une euphorie postpandémique s’empare de nos politiciens en campagne électorale. On aimerait y croire, mais les baisses d’impôt promises par la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) et les libéraux posent problème. Ces annonces plairont au plus grand […]Miville Tremblay – Tax Cut Promises on Quebec’s Campaign Trail Seem Unwise
From: Miville Tremblay To: Quebec Election Watchers Date: September 7, 2022 Re: Tax Cut Promises on Quebec’s Campaign Trail Seem Unwise A post-pandemic euphoria grips our politicians on the campaign trail. We would like to join in, but the tax cuts promised by both the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Liberals are problematic. They may have broad […] Les partis de l’économie se « lâchent lousse » ! – La Presse Op-Ed
Une euphorie postpandémique s’empare de nos politiciens en campagne électorale. On aimerait y croire, mais les baisses d’impôt promises par la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) et les libéraux posent problème.
Ces annonces plairont au plus grand nombre, mais elles aggraveront l’inflation, que ces partis veulent pourtant soulager. Que vaudra une réduction d’impôt, si elle entraîne des paiements hypothécaires plus élevés ?
Ce n’est pas le moment de stimuler une économie en surchauffe, alors que la Banque du Canada hausse les taux d’intérêt pour calmer le jeu.
Cette générosité soudaine provient d’une lecture avec des lunettes roses du Rapport préélectoral sur l’état des finances publiques du Québec.…