How did the province stray so far off course?
The numbers are a bit shocking: if successive Ontario governments had been just a little prudent with money, the province’s massive debt would be exactly zero. Instead, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced a few weeks ago that Ontario’s government debt now exceeds $400 billion. Rather than being the envy of other provinces, Ontario today is…
Does the party really believe women can't win in a fair fight against men?
Political parties propose and support many policies and ideas. Some ideas are top-flight and beneficial to their political fortunes. Others seem good in theory, but may require additional tinkering or minor adjustment(s). Still other ideas may turn out to be untenable, or require a significant overhaul or have to be abandoned. Then there are ideas…
It’s time for Ford to do the job he was sent to Queen’s Park to do
When Ontario Premier Doug Ford was running for office, he promised to deliver tax relief for Ontario families and businesses. “We have a very simple theory,” said Ford during the 2018 provincial election campaign. “Put money back into the taxpayers’ pocket instead of the government’s pocket, because we believe that the taxpayers are a lot…
Ontario’s politicians have to stop spending like drunken sailors
Ontario Premier Doug Ford needs to end the province’s 15-year-long spending bonanza. Ford continues to rule out spending cuts to help balance the budget, but he shouldn’t. To contextualize Ontario’s history of reckless spending, take yourself back to 2007. The first-ever iPhone was just released. U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House. And…
Ever-higher minimum wages are pricing more people out of the job market and reducing economic opportunity
Minimum wages are on the rise again in Ontario. As of Oct. 1, the province’s incessant central planners have not one but six higher price controls for labour. These hurt the most vulnerable Canadians and do the bidding of unions. However, vociferous proponents delude themselves into thinking they have the moral high ground and are…
His transformation – at least on economic policy – is finally complete
The transformation of Doug Ford into Kathleen Wynne – at least on economic policy – is finally complete. Ford’s earlier promises to cut personal and corporate income taxes have gone unfulfilled. Ford said he would scrap corporate welfare, but even excluding pandemic-related relief, corporate welfare continues unabated, and no real effort was ever made to…
Ford outspent former premier Kathleen Wynne even before COVID-19 hit the province
The clock is ticking on Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He promised Ontarians “the party is over with taxpayers’ money.” Now he needs to keep his promise to get spending under control before time runs out and the next election starts. While some may argue that Ford has not had a chance to fix the province’s…
Bad government decisions have one thing in common: lack of independent oversight
A litany of disastrous government decisions in Canada have sometimes cost lives and definitely many billions of dollars. The list is long: effectively cancelling the Global Public Health Intelligence Network; the failure to implement the pandemic preparedness protocols developed by the federal government’s public health officer; the Alberta government’s disastrous ‘investments’ in the Keystone XL…
To rule out cutting spending anywhere is a major disservice to Ontario taxpayers
It’s odd to use a throne speech to outline the government’s lack of vision. While the recent throne speech predictably focused on COVID-19, the only significant non-pandemic promise was a pledge to balance the budget relying solely on economic growth, with no spending cuts or tax increases. In other words: the Ontario government has no…
The largest province in the nation should not have the most anemic economic growth rate
Good things used to grow in Ontario when we were the economic engine, but now we are nine spots behind the pace car. A new report released by the Fraser Institute shows that, over the past 20 years, Ontario has suffered from a lack of money being injected into businesses, and that has stalled our…