treasury

Thursday November 23, 2023

The Trudeau government, led by Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, faces mounting challenges as Canada grapples with a substantial national debt, increased debt servicing costs, economic slowdown, and rising unemployment, prompting concerns about the government's ability to address critical issues across various sectors.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 23, 2023

Growing Debt, Shrinking Priorities: The Trudeau Government’s Balancing Act

November 3, 2022

The Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, has tabled a fall economic statement revealing a stark reality: servicing the considerable federal debt will consume a larger share of Ottawa’s revenue than in recent years. This ominous financial forecast comes as Canada grapples with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with economic growth expected to stall, unemployment set to rise, and tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

Freeland proposes additional spending of $20.8 billion over the next six years, emphasizing it as a modest increase compared to previous years and a display of fiscal prudence. However, the lion’s share of this new spending is allocated to housing initiatives and climate-friendly projects, diverting attention and resources away from crucial areas such as defense, social programs, infrastructure, innovation, and healthcare.

News: Canada fiscal update sees higher deficits and debt, adds housing measures  

October 1, 2019

The Trudeau government has consistently run deficits since its election, exacerbated by the pandemic’s economic fallout. The interest rates, now at a 20-year high, have inflated the cost of borrowing from $20.3 billion in 2020-21 to a staggering $46.5 billion in the current fiscal year. Debt servicing charges are projected to soar to $60.7 billion in 2028-29, making it one of the most burdensome items in the federal budget.

To contextualize the impact, debt service charges for this year alone surpass spending on the Canadian Armed Forces by $18 billion and exceed the allocated funds for the Canada Child Benefit by $20 billion. This rise in debt interest charges limits the government’s fiscal flexibility to address critical issues such as the housing supply crunch.

November 2, 2016

Kevin Page, former parliamentary budget officer, warns that the substantial increase in debt during the pandemic will now have repercussions. The federal debt has doubled since 2015-16, reaching $1.2 trillion last year and projected to climb to $1.4 trillion by 2028-29. As debt interest charges consume more fiscal space, the government’s ability to tackle pressing issues diminishes.

Despite lower new spending in the economic statement compared to previous budgets, the fiscal outlook remains grim. The deficit for this year stands at $40 billion, and with a forecasted economic growth of only 0.4%, the unemployment rate is expected to rise to 6.5%. Projected deficits for the coming years have been revised upwards, indicating a challenging fiscal path ahead.

Freeland’s focus on housing measures, while important, raises concerns about the government’s ability to address a broad spectrum of issues. The proposed new spending measures, though aimed at addressing the housing crisis, may not be sufficient to meet the urgency of Canadians’ needs, as emphasized by opposition leaders.

Opinion: ‘Trudeau’s political problem is bigger than his debt problem’  

November 13, 2014

As the government deviates from its traditional fiscal anchor, allowing the net debt-to-GDP ratio to rise, questions arise about the sustainability of Canada’s finances. Freeland introduces a new fiscal anchor, aiming to keep deficits below 1% of GDP in future years, asserting that this strategy will ensure continued investments in Canadians.

In the face of rising debt and constrained fiscal options, the Trudeau government must carefully navigate its spending priorities to address the multifaceted challenges facing the nation. Balancing economic recovery with essential program funding is a delicate task, one that demands strategic decision-making to safeguard Canada’s financial stability and the well-being of its citizens. (AI)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro. If you’re creative, give illustration a try:

 

 

Tuesday April 5, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 5, 2022

The Vatican holds billions in assets. Residential school survivors say the Pope should step up on compensation

March 29, 2022

As a Canadian delegation prepares for its final meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican Friday, a growing chorus in Canada is hoping Francis commits to immediately remedying the Roman Catholic Church’s broken compensation promises to residential school survivors.

Canadian bishops announced a renewed fundraising effort last fall —  $30 million over five years — and say work is well underway.

But critics are skeptical. Even if that money can be raised, they say it’s wrong to make the dwindling number of elderly survivors wait that long. They say that if Canadian bishops won’t do it immediately, the Vatican should.

Although all the full specifics of the Vatican’s holdings are unknown, a tabulation of known assets puts them in the tens or possibly hundreds of billions of dollars.

September 5, 2018

Survivors say the compensation money isn’t for them — it’s to fund addictions and mental health supports, job training, recreation, language preservation and other programs for their descendants suffering through intergenerational trauma.

“It affected my children, my grandchildren. So many are lost,” said survivor and mental health worker Audrey Eyahpaise of the Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation.

The survivors say the Vatican is just as responsible as the local religious orders and dioceses.

October 18, 2018

“This has been a struggle for many years. They’ve been patient. They keep hearing broken promises,” said University of Saskatchewan Indigenous studies professor and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation member Bonita Beatty.

“It’s a hierarchy. They report up to the Vatican. So yes, he [Pope Francis] is responsible for the various arms of his government. He can’t just wash his hands of it.”

Francis’s supporters say he has moved the church toward greater transparency, but a definitive dollar figure of the Roman Catholic Church’s wealth remains unavailable.

CBC News collected publicly available information to obtain a partial list of the church’s assets. They include:the Vatican, Vatican Bank, art and architecture, investments, and land. (CBC) 

 

Monday June 25, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday June 25, 2018

The flip side of Ford’s content-free campaign: Unpleasant surprises may be in store

October 28, 2003

Starting next week, when they formally take over the levers of government, the Tories are going to have a real problem on their hands: the Liberals were historically unpopular by the time voters had to render a verdict on election day, but many of their policies weren’t. Indeed, the Liberal budget from the spring briefly seemed to make the pre-election period more competitive until voters remembered who had written the big-spending, big-deficit document. Liberal promises on child care, pharmacare, and transit spending were all extremely popular — it was the Liberals themselves that voters had tired of.

June 7, 2018

Now, Ford has promised substantial tax cuts — above and beyond the end of the cap-and-trade system — that will either (a) further burden a budget that’s already in deficit or (b) require substantial service cuts to bring the province’s books back into balance. So what’s going to give? The Tories spent years raising hell about the increase in the provincial debt under the Liberals, so big deficits are going to be awkward. But they’re not going to give up the tax cuts they promised.

That leaves service cuts. And to make cuts substantial enough to raise the billions of dollars Ford needs to find — without affecting front-line service in schools and hospitals — he will need to find lots and lots of small cuts.

June 21, 2018

(Well, technically, there’s also the possibility that the Tories will lose their promised challenge to the federal carbon tax and start receiving billions of dollars in federally imposed carbon revenues, but that would fill only part of the hole Ford’s promises have dug.)

Ford may have promised that there will be no layoffs under his tenure, but even if we don’t replay the labour unrest of the last Tory government, the fate of GreenON suggests that something else could emerge that would be difficult for him in a different way. Voters who planned major spending in their lives around the government they had at the moment — and were promised there would be no major changes to the level of service they receive — will be irritated by any serious efforts to alter its policies.

June 15, 2018

That prospect might not be enough to stop the Tories from making these kinds of cuts. It certainly wasn’t going to save cap and trade, something that, earlier this year, Ford and all of his leadership rivals unanimously promised to destroy. But public backlash to seemingly trivial cuts can sometimes surprise governments — as happened when the Liberals were caught flat-footed by mobilized parents opposed to cuts to autism therapy.

The Tories undoubtedly think they’ll do a better job than the Liberals did of running government. But changing the folks at the top doesn’t make the problems they need to solve any less complicated. (Source: TVO) 

 

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Thursday September 25, 2014

Thursday September 25, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 25, 2014

Province kicks in extra $74 million for 2015 Pan Am Games

Ontario’s governing Liberals say they’ll pump another $74 million into the multibillion-dollar 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in southern Ontario.

They say the organizing committee expects $25 million in revenue shortfalls and $49 million in “additional requirements.”

The government says the money will be used to provide a live broadcast of selected events, back-up ambulances and expanding the torch relay to other communities. Both the government and the organizing committee say it’s the last time that more provincial money will go toward the games.

It will also be used for satellite villages to reduce travel time for those participating in the massive international sporting event.

The Liberals says it’s a small increase to the Games’ budget, which is expected to cost about $2.5 billion in total, including security, transportation and the athletes’ village.

The Pan Am Games will run from July 7 to 26, at 34 different competition venues across southern Ontario, from the Niagara Region in the south to as far north as Orillia. (Source: CBC News)