Government finance
(Vancouver) The provincial government has underestimated its revenues by $7.9 billion over the past four years and continues to low-ball projections. The government’s current “three-year fiscal plan” projects surpluses of just over $1 billion in the next two years. But more realistic estimates, using the Ministry of Finance’s own economic growth forecasts, show that the province can expect surpluses of $2.8 billion in 2006/07 and $3.9 billion in 2007/08.
TORONTO—Ontario’s finances are in substantially better shape than the McGuinty government’s constant cries of poverty would suggest, says a new study from the Ontario Alternative Budget project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. That means the Liberal government has no one but itself to blame for the continuing public services crunch in this province.
OTTAWA—Today the Alternative Federal Budget released a detailed report card on the achievements of the 2004-05 Minority Parliament and awarded the Martin Minority an overall C grade for “some progress.”
The Liberals were long criticized for padding their budget forecasts, to disguise the true extent of Ottawa's surpluses. But, with an election then in the offing, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's Nov. 14 fiscal update was the most honest in years, acknowledging some $50-billion in cumulative surpluses over the next five budget cycles. That's the good news.
OTTAWA—Monday’s Economic and Fiscal Update is animated more by politics than economics. In the present political circumstances the temptation for the Liberals to massage their financial disclosures in a manner consistent with their pre-election strategy is great.
A new report, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, provides Canadians with tools to decode the spin. Authored by CCPA Senior Economist Ellen Russell, the report helps journalists and others examine the plausibility of the government’s numbers by providing: