Time for an Upgrade: Fiscal Accountability in Canada’s Cities, 2020
Outdated practices make the budgets of too many Canadian cities impossible for non-experts to understand. In this report, authors William B.P. Robson and Miles Wu grade the clarity, comprehensiveness, and timeliness of the financial presentations of 31 major Canadian municipalities, based on their most recent budgets and financial statements, and prescribe some simple fixes to […] William B.P. Robson – Let’s Drop The ‘We Can’t Go Back’ Post-covid Fantasies
From: William B.P. Robson To: Canadians Contemplating 2021 Date: January 5, 2021 Re: Let’s Drop the ‘We Can’t Go Back’ Post-COVID Fantasies Of all the COVID-inspired clichés of 2020, “we can’t go back to how we were before” gets my vote for most trying. Taken literally, it is empty. We can’t undo the deaths, restore students’ lost instruction, […] 2020 Hindsight – William Robson: Our Year Of Magical Thinking – Financial Post Op-ed
Of all the COVID-inspired clichés of 2020, “we can’t go back to how we were before” gets my vote for most trying.
Taken literally, it is empty. We can’t undo the deaths, restore students’ lost instruction, give young people the first jobs they didn’t get, erase the huge debts, enjoy the travel and human contact that didn’t happen. No, we can’t go back to 2019 — which is too bad.
Taken as an exhortation — “we shouldn’t go back to how we were before” — it is too often a prelude to magical thinking, a great leap to some environmental, economic or political nirvana previously out of reach. That is silly. A sick person who was never an athlete can dream of completing a triathlon. But their first task is to recover. In the same…
Laurin, Robson – Under The Rug: Pitfalls Abound In Reporting Federal Employee Pension Obligations
From: Alexandre Laurin and William B.P. Robson To: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Date: December 3, 2020 Re: Under the Rug: Pitfalls Abound in Reporting Federal Employee Pension Obligations The federal government’s fall economic update included some unfamiliar lines in its fiscal projections. Its Summary Statement of Transactions presented totals for the federal government’s expenses and the budget balance […] Bill Robson on BNN – I would like to see a five-year track: C.D. Howe CEO on fiscal update
Bill Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute talks about his expectations for the fiscal update and wanting to at least see where the federal government sees revenues and spending projections for the coming years, even amid COVID-19 uncertainty.
William B.P. Robson – Ottawa’s Spending Won’t Stay Cheap
From: William B.P. Robson To: Enthusiasts for, and skeptics about, federal government spending Date: October 26, 2020 Re: Ottawa’s spending won’t stay cheap Looked at one way, the federal government’s recent musings about spending tens – even hundreds – of billions more dollars on a raft of new programs seem weird. Nobody thought we could afford such a […] Busted Budgets: Canada’s Senior Governments Can’t Stick to Their Fiscal Plans
Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments have spent a combined total of $97 billion more than they promised in their budgets since 2000, a figure set to worsen with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2000, Canada’s senior governments have spent $97 billion – some $2,600 per Canadian – more than they budgeted and […] Robson, Omran – Fiscal Accountability: Our Annual Report Card
From: William B.P. Robson and Farah Omran To: Canada’s Ministers of Finance Date: August 19, 2020 Re: Fiscal Accountability: Our Annual Report Card With Canadian governments responding to the COVID-19 crisis with unprecedented spending and borrowing, the quality of the financial information they present is becoming more important than ever. While much of the financial information presented to legislators […] The ABCs of Fiscal Accountability: Grading Canada’s Senior Governments, 2020
COVID Threatens Governments’ Fiscal Accountability Many of Canada’s senior governments have made impressive progress with the transparency and accessibility of their financial presentations, but these gains are under threat from the COVID pandemic. In the C.D. Howe Institute’s annual report card on the accessibility, timeliness and reliability of governments’ financial documents, the authors assign grades […] Laurin, Wu, Robson – Fiscal Snapshot Will Show A Grim Picture Of Federal Debt
From: Alexandre Laurin, Miles Wu and William B.P. Robson To: Canadians Concerned about Government Debt Date: July 6, 2020 Re: Fiscal snapshot will show a grim picture of federal debt Over the last three months, the regular spending announcements from Canadian governments in response to COVID-19 have progressed from reassuring to alarming. In late June, […] William B.P. Robson – Covid-19 Must Not Undermine Governments’ Fiscal Accountability
From: William B.P. Robson To: Members of federal, provincial and territorial legislatures Date: June 25, 2020 Re: COVID-19 Must Not Undermine Governments’ Fiscal Accountability COVID-19 is hurting more than our health. It has crushed our economy. And it is straining our governing institutions. A case in point is the federal government’s refusal to table a budget. The C.D. Howe […] COVID-19’s mysterious budget-killing side effect – Financial Post Op-Ed
COVID-19 is hurting more than our health. It has crushed our economy. And it is straining our governing institutions. A case in point is the federal government’s refusal to table a budget.
The C.D. Howe Institute publishes an annual report on the fiscal accountability of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments. Transparency about taxing, spending and borrowing is fundamental to representative government. Budget votes determine whether governments stand or fall. Legislatures must authorize spending through the estimates process. They need timely, full information to do their work.
The fiscal years of Canada’s senior governments run from April 1 to March 31. Governments that present budgets and…