Feds’ mid-year revenue fell by nearly 22 per cent during pandemic
The federal government brought in 21.5 per cent less revenue from April to September this year as the country battled the COVID-19 pandemic than it did during the same period last year, a recently released document from Finance Canada shows. The government’s borrowing and spending during the pandemic has attracted considerable scrutiny, as the federal […]
Liberals harness more spending power to fight COVID and lay out election-ready agenda
OTTAWA—Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland reopened Ottawa’s spending taps to help Canadians cope with the epidemic while setting out an expansive, equity-focused agenda for the next Liberal election campaign. In her first accounting of government spending since she took over as finance minister from Bill Morneau in August, Freeland released a 237-page package of new supports […]
This just in: staffing update for Freeland’s finance ministerial team
It’s been more than three months since Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland put on the added hat of minister of finance, and Hill Climbers finally has some staffing decisions to report. The minister’s office has for months declined to confirm who is staffing Ms. Freeland in her capacity as finance minister, saying the office was […]
Dip in RCMP watchdog’s budget shakes faith in its ability to exercise oversight, says NDP MP Harris
NDP MP Jack Harris says the decrease in the RCMP watchdog’s projected budget for this fiscal year offers little assurance that it will have the ability to improve its oversight duties. Addressing Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (Scarborough-Southwest, Ont.) during a House Public Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Harris (St. John’s East, N.L.) noted […]
Canada’s surface combatant costs might be taking on water
Sometime soon, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) will release an updated costing of the Navy’s Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) project. Much of Canada’s naval future, military combat capability, and ability to defend our country and continent are wrapped up in that project, the most expensive we have ever undertaken. Currently budgeted at between $56-billion and […]
Three weeks to deadline, gridlocked Finance Committee’s pre-budget study in doubt
Locked in an impasse since the House of Commons’ return, the Finance Committee has yet to begin its pre-budget consultations and the clock is running out for it to submit a report with recommendations to Parliament. The Standing Orders dictate that the Finance Committee must table its report on the government’s budgetary policy no later […]
Canada’s ‘most abnormal recession’ requires continued federal support for households, says top economist, but the longer we’re stuck, the worse it gets
Following hundreds of billions of dollars of government spending with the second wave of COVID-19 in full force, a number of leading experts and economists are saying that although government support needs to remain available to Canadians, economic recovery becomes more difficult to achieve the longer slowdowns continue—and that the development and deployment of a […]
Feds’ COVID-19 debt hits $278.8-billion, but government debt payments are falling
The federal government borrowed nearly $279-billion to battle the COVID-19 pandemic in just the first half of this fiscal year, but actually spent less money than it did last year on debt-related interest payments, according to two recent reports from Finance Canada. The government borrowed $293.8-billion between April 1, the beginning of the current fiscal […]
Treasury Board president slammed for transparency gaps in spending following ‘damning’ PBO reports
Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos was pressed over the government’s spending secrecy at committee following the release of “damning” reports from Canada’s budget watchdog, with MPs calling on him to answer for a lack of fiscal transparency amid unprecedented pandemic spending. On the morning of Mr. Duclos’ Nov. 4 appearance at the House Government Operations […]
Eleven weeks after becoming finance minister, Freeland’s mandate letter has yet to be released
Eleven weeks after she was tapped to guide Canada’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Liberal government has yet to release a mandate letter outlining policy objectives for Chrystia Freeland. Some observers have raised concern over the lack of fiscal transparency in pandemic spending as the government hasn’t tabled a budget in more than […]
