The Bank of Canada needs a jobs mandate
The Bank of Canada was recently cast into the political fray by Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre calling it “an ATM for [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau’s insatiable spending appetites.” In fact, the central bank is right to buy up government bonds to stabilize our economy and save jobs, but needs a more credible mandate that […]
Government adds $79-billion to expected spending, pushing annual total to $476-billion, and counting
The federal government says it needs to spend an additional $79-billion to carry on with its work this year in the global pandemic, pushing its projected tab for 2020-21 to $476-billion, with another round of spending still to be announced later. Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) tabled the supplementary estimates (b) in the […]
Feds’ pandemic wage subsidy could be lifeline—if it gets it right
The Speech from the Throne gave workers laid off due to the pandemic reason for hope and worry. Recognizing that phasing out recovery benefit programs would be a mistake, the government moved to extend benefits like the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy until June 2021. CEWS was designed to keep workers affected by pandemic shutdowns connected […]
Infrastructure bank’s $10-billion growth plan raises hope of green bond push in Canada
The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s new growth plan, a $10-billion dollar strategy announced on Oct. 1 to invest in five priority areas related to greening Canada’s infrastructure, could be a step towards boosting the green bond market in Canada, experts say. “There’s a great opportunity for us here,” said Karen Clarke-Whistler, principal at ESG Global Advisors […]
Canadians are ready for real action on a green and just recovery
Last week, the Green Budget Coalition published its annual recommendations for federal investments to achieve priority environmental outcomes. While we are still in the midst of a public health emergency, Canadians are ready for real action on a green and just recovery from this pandemic that both improves their lives now and builds a better, […]
Canada needs a new ‘fiscal anchor’ and Freeland needs to share financial plans, says PBO Giroux
The federal government should make more details about its historic, multi-billion-dollar pandemic spending plan public, including information about money set aside for yet-to-be announced measures, the expected debt and deficit by year’s end, and what the Liberals will use as a new fiscal “anchor” now that a declining debt-to-GDP ratio is unreachable, says Canada’s Parliamentary […]
Feds need to provide the analytical basis for new programs, like the superclusters project
TORONTO—In predicting that the promised economic benefits from the centrepiece of the government’s innovation strategy will fall far short of what Industry Minister Navdeep Bains has promised, the Parliamentary Budget Office has turned the spotlight on the government’s much ballyhooed superclusters project. This provides an opportunity for the House Industry Committee to review the program—pluses […]
Economic inequality, COVID-19, and the butterfly effect
Back in 2013, when Beyoncé was Drunk in Love, Justin Bieber was breaking up with his pet monkey, and Donald Trump was still tweeting about Barack Obama’s birthplace, a literary phenomenon was born. The book Capital in the Twenty-First Century by French economist Thomas Piketty was published in the original French in August of that year. By May 2014, […]
New COVID-relief programs could cost upwards of $14.6-billion, says PBO
A four-week extension of the now-defunct Canada Emergency Response Benefit could cost Ottawa an additional $5.36-billion this year, according to a new analysis from Canada’s budget watchdog, while new measures approved by Parliamentarians last week could cost more than $14.6-billion. The Parliamentary Budget Officer shared four costing notes Wednesday: three assessing the cost of the […]
Pandemic throws line-by-line approval of billions of dollars in spending off course
Billions of dollars in spending to keep government operations going have yet to be formally approved by the House after the pandemic forced MPs to defer scrutiny to December, throwing off the usual course of parliamentary business. This year’s main estimates, setting out $304.6-billion in federal spending, were first introduced in February but were never […]
