I have been trying to sort out why I so dislike the recent federal budget. The loudest critics, the Conference Board, bank economists, much of the mainstream media have complained about too much spending in this time of continuing inflation, about deficits and debt. How long will we have to
Continue readingTag: kevin page
Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andray Domise discusses both the U.S.’ choice to be an intentionally safe destination for refugees, and Canada’s complicity in validating that choice and other policies of dehumanization rather than speaking out against even such obvious abuses as the imprisonment of children. And the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Joe Romm discusses new research showing that man-made greenhouse gas emissions have ended an 11,000-year era of climate stability. – Thomas Walkom points out the contradictions in Justin Trudeau’s declaration that there will be no federal climate policy without new pipelines. And David
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- John Quiggin examines – and refutes – a few key complaints about fairer taxes on the wealthy. But Kathryn May reports that the Cons are eager to use public resources to investigate and punish public servants …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Edward Keenan writes that a lack of affordable child care is the crucial financial pressure facing families across the income spectrum. And Michael Wolfson discusses the dangers of talking about taxes in a vacuum without recognizing what we lose by failing to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Day Well-Spent
There is something both restorative and energizing about spending time among people who are politically engaged, and that is probably the best way to describe those in attendance at both the Toronto Star Tent and the Amazon.ca Bestsellers Stage yesterday at Toronto’s Word On The Street. As much as I
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Word On The Street
I’m heading to Toronto this morning for Word On The Street, the annual celebration of the written word that is always a worthwhile experience. At noon, I am hoping to get a seat in the Toronto Star Tent, where Tim Harper, Thomas Walkom and Bruce Campion-Smith will be discussing the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Kevin Page and the Many Victims of the Con Regime
For five long years Kevin Page was the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and in many ways the conscience of the Con regime.They hated the way the way he stood up for the truth, they hounded him, they made his life miserable.And two years ago they finally forced him out.But now Page is back
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Tom Mulcair explains how the NDP Swiss Cheese Plan came about
Dramatic disclosures on the campaign trail today! A respected numbers man has called the campaign plan prepared by Tom Mulcair for the NDP, a “Swiss cheese plan.” He likes it, but thinks it’s a bit skimpy: Even though Canada’s former budget watchdog called the NDP’s fiscal plan “Swiss cheese,” leader
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is It Time to Skewer Harper With the F-35 Fiasco?
Probably the question should be whether Mulcair or Trudeau have the political acumen to bloody Stephen Harper over his blunders and deceit in Canada’s F-35 saga. We know now that Harper’s obsessive drive for a single source procurement on a “buy before you fly basis” was insanely reckless. Harper owes
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: "Dirty Secrets From The Man Who Worked For Harper"
This needs to be watched by all Canadians concerned about our country’s future. Please circulate widely: H/t Operation Maple Recommend this Post
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Kevin Page points out a few of the issues which should be on the table when Canada’s finance ministers meet next week: Our finance ministers are smart. They know that faster growth is going to require higher investment rates and sustainable public
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Questioning The Orthodoxy
http://canadabubble.com/ Joe Oliver is meeting with his provincial counterparts today. Kevin Page writes that, given Canada’s and the world’s economic outlook, it’s a time to ask some tough questions: Some of these issues cannot be ignored any longer. For instance, will any provincial or territorial finance minister confront Joe
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Kevin Page On Canada’s ‘Grotesquely Wrong Elites’
Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, about whom I have written many times on this blog, is without question one of Canada’s true heroes. The reason? He insisted upon doing his job with the kind of thoroughness and integrity that exemplify the highest ideals of public service. Like Munir Sheikh,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Mitchell Anderson compares the results of corporate-friendly Thatcherism to the alternative of public resource ownership and development in the interest of citizens – and finds far better results arising from the latter: Thirty-five years after she swept to power as British prime
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Leo Panitch reminds us that the term “reform” was once understood to represent efforts to bolster the public interest against unbridled market forces – and suggests it’s well past time to take the word back from the business interests who have turned
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Canada’s Dangerously Distorted Tax Conversation
“(In)visible Dialogue”. Installation by Wang King Road. 2011. Wikipedia Commons. (This post was written by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb; an abridged version appeared in the Star here.) We don’t like paying taxes. This is not big news: we don’t much like paying any bills, and there’s probably never been a
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Canada’s Dangerously Distorted Tax Conversation
“(In)visible Dialogue”. Installation by Wang King Road. 2011. Wikipedia Commons. (This post was written by Alex and Jordan Himelfarb; an abridged version appeared in the Star here.) We don’t like paying taxes. This is not big news: we don’t much like paying any bills, and there’s probably never been a
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: “My office will start to unravel” – former federal budget watchdog Kevin Page
Federal Conservatives sure liked to talk about accountability while in opposition. In power? Not so much. Kevin Page, Canada’s first parliamentary budget officer, said no governments want more accountability. It’s not even a partisan issue. That puts a budget watchdog … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Federal Court dismisses former PBO Kevin Page’s application
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: The Federal Court of Canada has dismissed a request by former Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, to clarify the office’s mandate. In his application, Page had also sought ”judgment affirming he has the jurisdiction to seek the information” relating to the $5.2 billion in fiscal savings outlined in
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