Dwight and Tom’s legacy: more of the same #nlpoli
Herb Kitchen died last week. He was the minister of finance in the early 1990s who brought down the difficult budgets, starting in 1991 that were part of a plan…
public accounts
Budget 2019 Context #nlpoli
Most of the commentary about Budget 2019 on Tuesday will be focused on the short-term. Here are some slides that show longer-term trending. We’ll update them later on with the…
Conservatives stay the debt-building course #nlpoli
Budget 2015 offered absolutely no surprises. On major areas the Conservatives continued their policy of spending more than the provincial treasury can afford. That’s been their trade-mark since 2003 and…
Government Spending and the Economy – Again #nlpoli
A post last week offered a quick confirmation that, as finance minister Ross Wiseman said, provincial government spending accounts for about 30% of the gross domestic product measured as spending.…
Spending Comparisons #nlpoli
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released its annual summary of health care spending health care last week. This is a pretty basic collection of numbers that show how…
Terry Paddon’s Report #nlpoli
If you want to understand what the provincial government’s audited financial statements really mean, you will have to skip Tom Marshall’s comments last week and look instead at the lengthy…
The Vibrant Unsustainable Super Energy Debt Warehouse #nlpoli
The Conservatives used to say that Newfoundland and Labrador was eastern North America’s energy warehouse. Once Danny Williams ran for the hills and left Kathy Dunderdale in charge, she kicked…
The 2012 Public Accounts #nlpoli
There is always something interesting in the province’s audited financial statements and – sadly – it is often at odds with what the politicians have been saying. On Tuesday, the…
Political Will and Public Policy #nlpoli
The SIDI simulation of government spending that we’ve run this past week might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but these sort of thought exercises are always useful. The most…
Responsible Public Spending #nlpoli
You don’t need drugs or alcohol to get the feeling of dizziness or stupor like you smacked your head with a hammer. Hard. Repeatedly. Just listen to a representative of…
The Road Not Taken #nlpoli
The number is a hard one to wrap your mind around. $15.6 billion. That’s the amount of oil royalties and mining royalties the provincial government collected from 2005 to 2012.…
Oil Revenues, Surpluses, and Deficits #nlpoli
The Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour hired the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to issue a report on the upcoming provincial budget that basically says all the things that…
Structural Versus Cyclical: a quick look #nlpoli
Is the government facing a structural or cyclical deficit? Good question. Their economist says it is a structural problem but his comments to the Telegram on March 13 suggest he…
The Arse that Laid the Golden Turd #nlpoli
The provincial cabinet has been burning the midnight oil the past couple of nights. Literally. Late night sessions that ended God-knows-when, night after night. Apparently, they are trying to figure…
If the next two years are bad… #nlpoli
No surprise that on the day after natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy talked about looming deficits of pre-1934 proportions that the ruling Conservatives did two things. First, backbencher Paul Lane…
Where the Money Comes From #nlpoli
Just to put the provincial government budget in perspective, here are the top five sources of cash that come into the treasury from what are considered the province’s own sources.…
The Return of the Public Accounts Committee #nlpoli
Supporters of the current governing party like to talk about how theirs is the most open, accountable and transparent government of all time. Problem for them is that they cannot…
Fiscal conservative, you say? #nlpoli
One of the more curious comments from provincial Conservative supporters lately has been the claim that they support the current Connie administration provincially because they – the supporters – are…
Trouble near mill: the Corner Brook hospital #nlpoli
The 2012 provincial budget includes $1.4 billion in capital works but none of it is apparently connected to two hospitals.. How long should it take to start construction work on…
The Budget-Spending Disconnection #nlpoli
The provincial government announced on Wednesday that they will spend $2.0 million to fund new child care spaces across the province. Through Budget 2012, the Provincial Government remains committed to…