The Department of Foreign Affairs has spent over $139,000 on Canadian diplomats buying tickets to concert, gala, or other events abroad since 2019, according to newly released federal records. The department wrote in an Inquiry of Ministry recently tabled in the House of Commons that since May 1, 2019, diplomats have spent $139,114 on tickets to…

Bank scares in the United States and Switzerland have prompted the federal government to grant itself extraordinary powers to stem any financial panic in Canada, a parliamentary committee heard on April 27. Testifying before the Standing Committee on Finance, Rachel Grasham, a senior director with the federal finance department said those powers will be used…

A federal blacklist of over 200 trucking companies that employed individuals supportive of the Freedom Convoy was emailed from a federal department to Canadian officers of a number of foreign banks, one of which was headquartered in Beijing, records show. In a response to a question by Conservative MP Arnold Viersen, the Public Safety Department wrote in…

Commentary When I read that Canada’s next federal budget would land on March 28 I thought “Oh great, that’s all we need.” Especially since Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland supposedly “reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ‘prudent fiscal management,’” and when this administration promises to “continue” something you know it’s not happening. But striving to remain positive…

The two big spending pressures on the federal government right now are health care and the global transition to a clean economy, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday. After hosting an in-person meeting with the provincial and territorial finance ministers, Freeland said U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes…

Some federal government spending items outlined in this year’s budget and the 2022 Fall Economic Statement could be cut if economic pressures bring about “less fiscal room,” says Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Freeland made the comments at a press conference on Jan. 24 in Hamilton, Ont., where she is attending the Liberals’ post-holiday cabinet retreat,…

The paper cheque is gaining back its popularity among small businesses as they look to offer more payment options to avoid the high transaction fees that come with accepting credit cards, according to a study by the Bank of Canada. “Merchants mentioned accepting a wider range of payment methods because they need to make sales…

Commentary Recently, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland commented on Canada’s inflation challenges and the federal budget. Unfortunately, many of these statements were misleading, with Freeland doubling down on the Trudeau government’s approach to fiscal policy. Responding to questions about the government’s approach to addressing inflation, Freeland repeated the claim that the latest federal budget was…

OTTAWA—Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fall economic statement today that outlined a better-than-expected economic rebound, but also billions more in spending, including on the response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Here are some other measures outlined in the fiscal update. Immigration backlogs The federal government plans to put $85 million into plowing through…

OTTAWA—The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government’s plan to extend its wage subsidy will push the overall price for the program to almost $106.7 billion. The budget officer’s report released this morning estimates that the majority, about $4.8 billion, in subsidies will flow to businesses that continue to see a steep, and persistent drop…