It’s time for Ottawa politicians to take deficits seriously again
There’s finally some good news for taxpayers: Instead of balancing the budget in 2070, the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s numbers now show Canadians can look forward to a balanced budget in only … wait for it … 20 years. Last year the Canadians Taxpayers Federation used PBO data to show the feds wouldn’t balance the budget…
The only options left for Canadians are a tax revolt, voting out the government, or a job working for the feds
Why work for yourself when taxpayers can pay you instead? In the past seven years, more Manitobans than ever have chosen the job security and benefits of federal employment, while the self-employed have begun to vanish. Statistics Canada snapshots show the most stunning growth of total salaries in one category of worker: federal government public…
Canadians must rediscover the need to link government spending with revenues
The rapid expansion of government in Canada over the past decade produced an unintended experiment in the role of the state in our lives. The pandemic in particular liberated governments to expand programs, spending and interventions in a manner unprecedented outside of wartime. As Canadians get a front-row look at life in a society defined…
The Bank has one job: to keep inflation around two per cent. It failed
It feels odd to explain this basic principle, but apparently, it’s not obvious to everyone: bonuses and pay raises are for doing a good job. While the Bank of Canada was sowing the seeds of today’s high inflation during the early days of the pandemic, it was also padding its employees’ pockets with bonuses and…
Controlling inflation with interest rates can work, but at a terrible cost
Summer heat isn’t the only thing making Canadians sweat this summer; abnormally high inflation and rising interest rates are putting the heat on many Canadians. We’ve gone from 0 per cent inflation in August 2020 to 8.1 per cent in June 2022. That’s really fast. The last time we saw anything like it was 1970-73…
The Trudeau government needs to rein in the years of overspending, set a concrete timeline, and plan to balance the budget
There’s great irony in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland touting the government’s “fiscal restraint” on the same day taxpayers find out that the governor general and her fellow passengers racked up an $80,000 bill on in-flight catering. “I know that my fiscal prudence surprised many,” said Freeland during her keynote address on affordability. “This fiscal restraint was…
We’re being bribed with our great-grandchildren’s money
Fifty-six thousand dollars. That’s the average amount each Canadian will owe in provincial and federal government debt by the end of the year. Much of this debt will likely be shovelled onto the backs of Canadians’ kids and grandkids. As columnist Chris Nelson warns, “we are no longer being bribed with our own money. We’re…
It’s time for taxpayers to get out of the political party welfare business
Ontarians should listen for a giant sucking sound from Queen’s Park. Now that the election is over and MPPs know that they don’t have to directly answer to voters for another four years, you can bet that Ontario’s political parties will team up once again to funnel even more money from taxpayers’ wallets into party…
Canada is more than $1 trillion in debt. Maybe it’s time to stop wasting taxpayers’ money
By Franco Terrazzano and Kris Sims How do you scare a polar bear? You don’t. They are apex predators and could eat you whenever they want. But that didn’t stop the government of Manitoba from spending $150,000 replacing diesel tundra buggies with whisper-quiet electric vehicles so tourists wouldn’t frighten the bears away. Too bad they…
And help Albertans cope with the scary roller coaster that is the economy
Albertans received the pleasant news that their deficit-plagued provincial government might bank a surplus for their concluding fiscal year and could very well experience the same this year. The reason for this happy state of financial affairs is the elevated price levels of oil and natural gas – coming just as a resurgence in the…