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…
The federal government owes Canadians a fiscal update – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Parliament is being asked to authorize massive amounts of spending to mitigate the economic damage of COVID-19. To best represent the interests of Canadian taxpayers, who some day will foot the bill, parliamentarians need the best picture possible of the underlying context. That should include a fiscal update.
The Prime Minister rejected the idea of a fiscal update last week, arguing that “in this situation any prediction we make will be widely unreliable from one week to the next.”
Many past updates and budgets, vital to the parliamentary process, would have failed the reliability test.
The infamous 1995 budget, widely viewed as tackling a fiscal crisis and putting the country on a sustainable fiscal path,…
Schwanen, Robson – Ontario Needs More Clarity On Its Re-opening Process
From: Daniel Schwanen and William B.P. Robson To: Canadians concerned about re-opening the economy Date: May 27, 2020 Re: Ontario needs more clarity on its re-opening process Re-opening locked-down economies is not easy. Because governments did the locking down, governments are key to the re-opening. How Ontario’s government manages it, given the province’s demographic and economic weight, will have […] Supporting Growth, Restoring Confidence: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2020
Federal Budget Must Spur Growth, Restore Confidence Ottawa must support economic growth and restore Canadians’ confidence in the country’s fiscal management, according to the C.D. Howe Institute’s annual Federal Shadow Budget. Authors William B.P. Robson and Alexandre Laurin show Ottawa could balance federal finances by 2025 through a combination of measures to boost growth and […] What You See is Not What You Get: Budgets versus Results in Canada’s Major Cities, 2019
Canadians always hear that their cities are strapped for cash. Yet a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute reveals that Canada’s biggest municipalities ran aggregate budget surpluses of $11 billion in 2018. In “What You See is Not What You Get: Budgets versus Results in Canada’s Major Cities, 2019” authors Farah Omran and William […] Jumpstarting Municipal Investment Returns – The Prudent Thing to Do
From: Patrick Gill To: Canadian taxpayers Date: January 30, 2020 Re: Jumpstarting Municipal Investment Returns – The Prudent Thing to Do All levels of government in Canada invest funds they don’t immediately require. These investments are a significant source of revenue for public coffers. Without this revenue stream, taxes would be higher or service levels […] William B.P. Robson – Toronto’s Property Tax Hike – Because A $1.4 Billion Surplus Isn’t Big Enough?
From: William B.P. Robson To: Toronto taxpayers Date: January 10, 2020 Re: Toronto’s property tax hike – because a $1.4 billion surplus isn’t big enough? Late last year, Toronto City Council approved an extraordinary property tax hike – an additional 1.0 percent in 2020 and 2021 on top of a previously approved 0.5-percent increase, and a full 1.5 […]