Budget’s AI investment is Canada playing catch-up
A plan has to be more than just a litany of fresh promises in one budget after another. Where is the strategy, and what are the defined outcomes that will tell whether it’s working?
Public service unions sound alarm over feds’ plan to trim bureaucracy by 5,000 jobs through ‘natural attrition’
As the population grows, ‘you have to invest and grow the public service,’ said Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Chris Aylward.
Budget’s ‘slow rollout’ pharmacare funding leaves program vulnerable to change in governments, say policy experts
The Liberals know they need to ‘crawl before they run’ when getting provincial deals done, says former Liberal staffer Muhammed Ali. But it’s ‘a pipe dream’ they will be able to ‘show benefits before the 2025 election’ says former Ontario PC staffer Carly Bergamini.
Budget 2024 offers promising pledges for science, but falls short in a few ways
The bulk of the budget’s $1.8-billion planned for core research grants won’t flow for several years—making it very contingent on election outcomes.
Canada is struggling and government is part of the problem
Federal government spending, public service employment, and the national debt are soaring, but delivery of essential government services is sputtering, and the Bank of Canada has been left to fight inflation single-handedly.
Stop looking abroad for investment success, there is opportunity here at home
If we want to improve productivity in Canada, we should be investing in our own businesses and essential community infrastructures to support them.
‘Overtaxed and overburdened’: cannabis industry suffocating under regulatory regime as feds take puff past excise relief in budget
Cannabis Council of Canada’s Paul McCarthy says he’s ‘bewildered’ at the feds’ lack of action despite growing calls from industry, experts, and a House committee.
How green was this budget?
Being better on climate policy than the Official Opposition is too low a bar for a confidence vote.
Freeland’s budget seen as last hope to turn Trudeau’s electoral fortunes around, say politicos
A key metric to gauge the budget’s effectiveness will be whether it reverses Canadians’ appetite for change in government, says David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data.
Feds give CBC a budget boost
Fasten your seatbelts. Canada is in for a long election run.
