Soaring debt and persistent deficits call for a bold, unbiased examination of Canada’s finances
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The Trudeau government’s fiscal record over the past decade has been and continues to be an unmitigated disaster. Persistent deficits, soaring debt, and unchecked spending have placed Canada’s finances on an unsustainable path, burdening future generations and limiting resources for essential services.
The numbers paint a stark picture. According to the Fraser Institute, “in 2024/25, the Trudeau government will have run its 10th consecutive budget deficit, primarily fueled by high levels of spending. (Prime Minister) Trudeau has overseen the six highest years of program spending in Canadian history (2018 to 2023) – even after excluding COVID-related spending – on a per-person basis adjusted for inflation. Since 2015/16, federal gross debt has nearly doubled from $1.1 trillion to an expected $2.1 trillion by the end of 2024/25. While a growing debt burden ultimately means higher taxes on future generations, it also today means higher debt interest costs, which have more than doubled since 2015/16. In fact, this year, more than $1 in every $10 the federal government collects in revenues will be used to service debt rather than provide services or tax relief for Canadians.”
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If we are to restore credibility to Canada’s finances, a bold new approach is essential. I propose that an incoming Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) government initiate an independent review of federal finances within 30 days of being sworn in. An objective, blue-ribbon panel – composed of outside experts – could bring innovative insights to fiscal management and begin the necessary task of identifying spending efficiencies and rooting out waste.
Such a review offers a much-needed alternative to the “status quo” approaches that typically come from internal reviews. Bureaucratic inertia and institutional resistance often block meaningful change, whereas an outside review would assess spending practices, uncover inefficiencies, and identify liabilities that otherwise remain hidden. A robust fiscal review would also establish a foundation for ongoing evaluations of federal spending, improving the long-term efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and services.
This approach is not without precedent. In Australia, independent budget reviews have been successfully conducted at both federal and regional levels, including Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland.
States and municipalities in the United States have long conducted efficiency reviews, with consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, IBM Global Business Services, and Public Financial Management often leading the work. According to research from Harvard Kennedy School’s Operational Excellence in Government Project, a review of 30 state and local efficiency studies found that 23 identified specific dollar savings, totalling nearly $17 billion in annual savings for taxpayers. Projecting these types of reviews across U.S. state and local governments suggests that taxpayers could save up to $30 billion per year through similar initiatives.
At the U.S. federal level, the 2010 National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (commonly known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission) proposed a comprehensive deficit reduction plan amid growing fiscal concerns. Although not fully implemented, Simpson-Bowles laid the groundwork for $1 trillion in savings through the Budget Control Act and influenced future budget policy discussions. Its recommendations, which included a balanced approach of spending caps, tax reforms, and program efficiencies, remain an example of how independent reviews can shape fiscal policy and drive change.
In Canada, provinces and territories have similarly benefited from independent fiscal reviews. Notable examples include Alberta (2019), B.C. (2001), Manitoba (2016), Ontario (2018), New Brunswick (2006), Newfoundland (2003) and the Yukon (2017). Each review shed light on spending inefficiencies and provided a roadmap for reining in public finances, underscoring the value of independent oversight.
I bring personal experience to this perspective. In 2019, Premier Jason Kenney appointed me as Executive Director of the MacKinnon (Blue Ribbon) Panel on Alberta’s Finances. My responsibilities included recruiting panel members, drafting terms of reference, co-ordinating information requests, and assisting in research and analysis that led to the panel’s final report. The panel was tasked with evaluating Alberta’s fiscal outlook, creating a balanced budget plan, proposing a framework for long-term fiscal stability, and assessing budgetary processes. The panel’s final report was well-received and used by the Kenney government as a blueprint for program reforms, cost controls, and spending discipline to bring Alberta back to fiscal balance.
The successes seen in Alberta and other jurisdictions suggest that Canada would greatly benefit from a similar approach at the federal level. Independent budget reviews bring accountability, fresh perspectives, and transparency, all essential to restoring public trust in Canada’s finances after nearly a decade of fiscal mismanagement.
A federal review would help set the stage for a long-overdue cleanup of Canada’s finances and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used effectively and sustainably.
Lennie Kaplan is a former senior manager in the Fiscal and Economic Policy Division of Alberta’s Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance (TB&F), where, among other duties, he examined best practices in independent fiscal reviews and program and service transformation.
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