Canada is at a tipping point on productivity
TORONTO—When will our politicians smarten up? There was Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, we are told, telling reporters after her budget speech that “talking about productivity is not something a smart politician does.” It is too boring, she suggested, a rather dismissive attitude about the interest of Canadians in their country’s future. Yet we need a […]
Unexciting federal budget a flimsy smokescreen for climate capitulation
CHELSEA, QUE.—According to the not-so-subtle Liberal communications plan, the few progressive and chewy morsels in last week’s federal budget should overshadow Justin Trudeau’s most brazen betrayal since 2015—far graver than his reversal on proportional representation and other, less consequential, broken promises. That betrayal also happened last week, just a day before what turned out to […]
Housing affordability, Canada’s green transition key budget planks as feds’ fiscal plan addresses ‘uncertain world’
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s second budget sets out $62.6-billion in new spending, with billions earmarked to make the hot housing market fairer, push Canada’s green transition, and bounce the country back from the COVID recession in an uncertain global economy. The 304-page document titled “A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable,” […]
Fed finances rosy for now, but trouble looms for economy
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2022 budget keeps federal finances on a sustainable track, but a senior government official warned reporters on April 7 that Canada’s economy could face trouble in the years to come. Budget 2022 includes $62.6-billion in new spending commitments over six years, as well as $25.3-billion in new revenues and spending cuts […]
Liberals live up to dental care promise and other key areas of NDP deal; NDP will support budget
The NDP will support the Liberal budget after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered on the specific promises outlined in the confidence-and-supply agreement, including dental care. In crafting a pact with the NDP, the Liberals made specific promises to ensure the House of Commons’ fourth party would help them see their […]
Feds pledge to add more than $8-billion for defence, announce review of defence policy in new budget
With an eye to Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine, the federal government is proposing adding more than $8-billion to the military budget and to conduct a review of its defence policy in its budget tabled on April 7. With foreign policy taking a backseat for the government as it has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic […]
Tax credit for carbon capture the wrong horse to back in a race against time
Scarcely a year into my first job with now defunct Britoil in 1986, I lost my job like many others as oil prices crashed. Young and optimistic, I went to Africa and applied my skills to building a dam. Eventually, I returned to the oil and gas sector, building a 30-year career, half of those […]
Guesswork, hopes, and risks: budget-making in the post-COVID haze
OTTAWA—Subject to election cycles, political trends, and economic shifts, budgets can range from the historic to pre-election giveaways to do-nothing holding patterns. But the budget to be delivered Thursday by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, coming after two years of a norm-destroying pandemic and in the midst of the worst foreign conflict in decades, will be […]
Politics This Morning: Guilbeault taking questions on climate plan, new IPCC report
Good Monday morning, There are three more days to go until Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND tables Budget 2022. Expect the usual jockeying to shape the conversation before and after it is released. The House of Commons is sitting today and the rest of this week, before taking a two-week break. The Senate is not sitting […]
Let’s bring some nuance to discussing the federal budget
It’s budget week. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will drop this year’s budget on Thursday, April 7 at 4 p.m. in the House, and politicians are likely already practiscing their reactions. Get your budget bingo cards ready. As long as all goes as planned on pharmacare and dental care commitments, there’s a […]
