Danielle Smith’s honeymoon continues

by Catherine Swift

A recent poll of Alberta voters has found that Premier Danielle Smith continues to enjoy majority support among Albertans. Calgary pollster Janet Brown found that after about two years in office, Smith enjoys a significant 52 per cent support. Brown noted that she hadn’t seen an Albertan Premier enjoy this level of ongoing support since […]

Ford government bill to rein in school boards the right move

by Janet Ecker

School boards or no school boards? That is indeed the question, yet again, as the Ontario Legislature considers Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act. In seeking to quell several controversial issues, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra came down firmly on the side of keeping them. But he continued the approach of his and […]

Hope for public education in Ontario

by Catherine Swift

The new minister of education for Ontario is talking tough. Paul Calandra, who has had several different portfolios in the Ford government over the years, has now been given the hot potato of ministerial roles – education. Fighting with school boards, militant teacher unions, parents and teachers has been the hallmark of this role. But […]

Kinew should push for end to industrial carbon tax

by Gage Haubrichtni

Premier Wab Kinew was right to stand against the federal consumer carbon tax. Now he needs to take the next step and call for an end to the federal industrial carbon tax. Because it’s likely to become a lot more expensive. That’s because Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to keep the industrial carbon tax […]

Ford government tables budget focused on Trump

by Janet Ecker

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recently elected government has brought in an actual budget, which is more than could be said for the confusion of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly elected government over whether they could actually produce one in their first year.   Budgets are critical documents for a government, particularly after an election, or re-election […]

Another Liberal budget for Ontario

by Catherine Swift

Delayed by the snap election call, the provincial budget was finally presented by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy this week. Consistent with previous years, the emphasis of the Ford government is on spending growth instead of tax reductions and government efficiency improvements. Similar to other Canadian governments, the Ford government is using the Trump tariffs as […]

Saskatchewan should aim to be the best, not better than the rest

by Gage Haubrichtni

The Saskatchewan government likes to brag that it’s fiscally responsible compared to other provinces. But that doesn’t mean anything if every other province is piling up debt and wasting millions of dollars every year on debt interest payments. The government says that Saskatchewan has “second lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio,” and the “second highest credit rating,” […]

Ontario – the sick man of North America

by Catherine Swift

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced this week that the provincial budget will be read on May 15. The government has already begun to announce measures that will be included in the budget, such as an increase in the tax credit for Ontario manufacturers, which will amount to an additional $1.3 billion over three years. […]

It may just be the general drop in social standards of civility or the decline of local media coverage, but the increase in incidents of “bad behaviour” by elected municipal councillors has prompted the Ontario Government to act.  Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack has introduced a new law that will allow the removal of an […]

Budget hits Manitobans with a stealth tax hike

by Gage Haubrichtni

Premier Wab Kinew is punishing Manitobans for receiving a cost-of-living pay raise. And he’s really hoping you won’t notice, but here’s what’s happening. The Manitoba government will stop indexing income tax brackets and the basic personal amount by inflation this year. That’s called bracket creep and it’s a sneaky way of hiking taxes. Because of […]