Perhaps the most striking feature of today’s Ontario budget is how close it comes to last month’s Drummond report. Drummond’s recommendation for 2017-18 was $134.7 billion of provincial revenue, $117.5 billion of program spending and $15.3 billion of interest payments. By comparison, today’s budget envisions $135.9 billion of revenue, $118.9
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cmkl: So I think I’ll write about the weather
Because there’s too much depressing stuff going on. Which isn’t to say that snow flurries tomorrow evening isn’t depressing enough. But at least there’s nothing to be done about it.
Continue readingLeft Over: It’s the Least Wonderful Time of the Year…
A lousy day all around…I can think of nothing I like less than the idea of Mulcair, the ex-Liberal, as the leader of the Party I would have gone out of my way to support and volunteer for, if anyone, and I mean anyone, running, would have beat him… Great..we
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Inflation Central
Statistics Canada reported today that consumer prices edged up by 0.1% in February on a seasonally-adjusted basis, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.6% and the core inflation rate to 2.3%. These rates are within the Bank of Canada’s target range and should allow it to keep interest rates low,
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: TD Greening from Inside Out
While some ‘green’ businesses do little more than changing light bulbs and focus on greening their reputations, TD Bank take a long term view and green themselves slowly and steadily from the inside out. In this exclusive interview, TD Chief Environmental Officer Karen Clarke-Whistler explains how this long term approach
Continue readingcmkl: Don Drummond, meet Hugh Mackenzie
Then take your stupid report and chuck it. The CCPA has published a new hunk of PDF by economist Hugh Mackenzie which slices and dices the Drummond report’s fiscal forecast and portrays it as a crisis-invention tool. I hate PDFs too, but I think it’s important enough to have a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher uncover an apparently-fictitious employee listed as one of Con contractor RackNine’s key contacts – nicely paralleling the obvious coverup behind “Pierre Poutine”. And Dr. Dawg places the latest revelations in context with the rest of the Cons’
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: There’s More?
As we near a month since the RoboCon/Robocalls scandal burst onto the blogosphere and main stream media in a big way, there are no signs of it fading. When the breadth of the scandal is known to more Canadians, it will result in a change of government, I’m sure of
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Forum, Nanos Polling in Ontario Battle it Out
Two polls provincially in Ontario talk about, the first one being Nanos’ Research poll (they did one in November as well that didn’t make the radar), and the next being Forum Research. Big, big differences in these polls. More than what’s normal, anyways. Let’s start with Nanos, which gives the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Ontario Chooses to Protect Old-Growth Forest
In northern Ontario there is a region called Temagami and it is absolutely stunning as it holds Ontario’s oldest old-growth forest and is the home to a diverse wildlife. In a tradition of profiteering, some people want to destroy the area and plans were set in motion in place to
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-13 21:09:00
CANADIAN POLITICS ONTARIO: DENOUNCE AND DEFEAT DRUMMAND’S DREADFUL DIRECTIONS: Always on the lookout to squeeze the poor even further the McGuinty government of Ontario has recently received a commission report of a plan to tighten the screws from former bank executive Don Drummond. It was all that could be expected.
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-10 00:16:00
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: KEEP THE SCHOOL HOUSE SHELTER OPEN: Here’s another callout from down Ontario way and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). This is an appeal and petition to keep a downtown homeless shelter open. Here’s the story: &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Hello everyone, The fight for the School House Shelter and
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-09 23:11:00
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: PRE-BUDGET RALLY AGAINST ONTARIO AUSTERITY: The following call-out is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). ()()()()()()()()()()() On March 16 FIGHT POVERTY AND DEMAND: A LIVING INCOME! HOUSING!QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES FOR ALL!Solidarity Against Austerity Friday, March 16, 2012Rally and March12noonMeet at College St and Bay St, Toronto
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Labour Force Exodus
Statistics Canada reported this morning that 38,000 people gave up looking for work in February. The official unemployment rate fell because these Canadians were no longer counted as being unemployed. However, this huge withdrawal from the labour force is a sign of weakness in the job market. Most of those
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-07 01:15:00
CANADIAN LABOUR SUDBURY: VALE’S ANTI-UNION MOVES PROVE FATAL FOR WORKERS: The end of the 2009-10 strike at Vale in Sudbury and Port Colburgh left company management emboldened. From their point of view they had beaten the union, USW Local 6500, and could do whatever they wanted. This included refusing to
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: What To Do About Dutch Disease?
In response to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s complaint about oil and the exchange rate, several (conservative) commentators argued that this “Dutch disease” is not what ails Ontario manufacturing. Andrew Coyne took a different tack yesterday, agreeing that petroleum development drives up the exchange rate to the detriment of manufacturing and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your pre-debate reading. – Dave connects a few more dots as to who’s behind Robocon. Guy Giorno helpfully acknowledges that the Cons were supposed to have business-style processes to avoid the exact kind of electoral fraud that’s been discovered across Canada – signalling both that they’re indeed
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Affordability of Post-Secondary Education
Carleton University’s Ted Jackson teaches a graduate seminar course on post-secondary education in Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Earlier this month, I was invited to give a guest presentation to Professor Jackson’s class. I focused the presentation on affordability challenges faced by students wanting to pursue post-secondary education.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Erin notes that the revenue gap being used as an excuse to demand massive cuts in Ontario is nearly entirely closed with a more plausible set of underlying assumptions and projections – and that’s without taking the look at revenue which was
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom points out that the McGuinty Libs’ choice to emphasize austerity rather than stabilizing Ontario’s economy may lead down exactly the same destructive path travelled by Greece and other countries: (T)he crises in Spain, Portugal and Greece occurred because government spending cuts
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