Fiscal policy issues — issues related to the balance between government revenue and expenditure — have come to play a curious role in the electoral cycle in Ontario. In advance of an election, debates over fiscal issues play prominently in the political discourse. The opposition (particularly the Conservative Party) tends to highlight concerns over deficits and debt, trying to portray the government as fiscally irresponsible. The government, meanwhile, aims to manage both the economics and the politics of deficit reduction.
The fiscal stances of the election platforms of the three major parties in the current Ontario election reflect a curious consensus regarding the overall timetable for deficit reduction in the province. However, the real danger facing Ontarians is not that the economic forecasts built into the parties’ common fiscal projections may not turn out to be true. Economic forecasts are always wrong; and even an adverse shift in economic projections will only delay the improvement in fiscal health that always depends first and foremost on economic recovery.
The deeper risk is how the next government responds to the evolving fiscal outlook. Unjustified panic about the size of future deficits would do more harm than good — to both the economy, and to Ontario’s social well-being.
Also see report author Hugh Mackenzie's blog post on the Ontario Leadership debate "Tim Hudak’s Got a $10 Billion Hole and Nothing to Say"
CCPA Research Associate Jim Stanford was on CBC's Power & Politics weighing in on Ontario's economy and the province's three main party platforms heading into the October 6 election. Listen in here at the 59 minute mark to discover, among other things, just how big the Conservative party's fiscal hole is leading up to Election Day.
An op-ed by CCPA-Ontario Research Associate Jim Stanford was featured in today's Ottawa Citizen. The piece was based on Jim's report, Charts For Dummies, a detailed statistical review of the 13 statistical graphs contained in the Conservative changebook platform document which finds that not one of them conforms to the normal requirements of academic or professional practice.
Download a PDF of the op-ed (with graphics) or read the op-ed on the Citizen's website (without graphs).
Click here to read more Charts for Dummies.
CCPA's Ontario office has released a detailed statistical review of the 13 statistical graphs contained in the Conservative changebook platform document which finds that not one of them conforms to the normal requirements of academic or professional practice.
The analysis, by economist and CCPA-Ontario Research Associate Jim Stanford, reveals at least three of the graphs (which illustrate various statistical arguments related to the Conservative platform) present data that is clearly false. All of the others contain major errors in the labeling of variables or axes; internally inconsistent or manipulative scaling of bars and data; and misleading or incomplete references to source data.
Click here to read the full report.
A new CCPA study finds that over the past two decades, Ontario's system of financing higher education has become more regressive, exploiting already over-stretched families who want to help their children pursue their educational aspirations.
In 1990, a middle income family in Ontario could earn the equivalent of four years of tuition fees in 87 days; it will take 195 days in 2011. The situation is even more dire for low income families who are looking at the equivalent of two years of income for four years of tuition fees in 2011.
By forcing all but the wealthiest families to play priority roulette, assume still more debt, or make the difficult decision that higher education is too great a financial burden to bear, Ontario is hampering its economic and educational potential, and we are all paying the price.
There are alternatives: the study shows how the government of Ontario can maximize investment benefits and create a highly educated populace not overburdened with debt, and in so doing help ensure that university is affordable to students and their families regardless of income.
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read an op-ed based on the report. Click here to see an infographic on the burden of a university education in Ontario.
The CCPA Monitor is the only place I know that one can go to for accurate and honest reporting on the state of the world. I would hate like hell to ever be without The CCPA Monitor; it would be like losing my sight and my hearing. I heartily recommend it to anybody who gives a damn about the condition of the world.
— Farley Mowat
