A representative for the tech giant Meta said Monday that the company plans to block access to Canadian news content on its platforms if Parliament passes Bill C-18, which mandates that the company pay news publishers for hosting content. “Ultimately, this legislation puts Meta in an unfavourable situation. In order to comply, we have to…

Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem says interest rates may need to stay higher “for longer” in order to return inflation to its 2 percent target. “When the [BoC’s] governing council met last week, we discussed whether we’ve raised rates enough, and we considered the likelihood that the policy rate may need to remain…

A federal House of Commons government operations committee heard that federal managers set easy performance targets that they often fail to meet. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified before the committee on March 20, stating that government department targets “tend to be too easy,” in response to a question from B.C. Liberal MP Parm Bains. “I speak…

The amount of Canada Student Loans deemed by the federal government to be uncollectible this year is up by over $57 million more than last fiscal year, says a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office. The increase represents a 34 percent increase from last year and is “over $50 million more than what was originally projected…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was questioned in the House of Commons today about comments made by Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux, who recently told a Senate committee that the federal public service is “broken.” “The prime minister said he was drawing the line to ban anyone from pointing out that things are broken after…

OTTAWA—Parliament’s spending watchdog says the federal Liberals’ budget overestimates how much of an impact its stimulus measures will have on Canada’s economy. The budget last month outlined what the government said was $101.4 billion in new spending over three years aimed at helping the country climb out of the economic hole caused by the COVID-19…

OTTAWA—As the government moves to train 4,000 new personal support workers across the country, Parliament’s budget watchdog estimates it will cost $38.5 million over two years. A costing note from the parliamentary budget office Tuesday says the federal government proposes to fund a six-week accelerated online program and four-month internship. Parts of the country have…

OTTAWA—As Mounties move forward to outfit officers with body-worn cameras, the parliamentary budget officer estimates it will cost $131 million over five years. A costing note Thursday said the RCMP is expected to purchase 12,500 camera subscriptions for use across the country at 700 detachments. There were calls for officers to wear the technology during…

OTTAWA—Reforms to a federal support program for provinces will nearly triple the cost to Ottawa next year, with the price tag projected to be about $4.5 billion, says Canada’s parliamentary budget officer. Yves Giroux says the government’s fiscal stabilization program, which transfers cash to provinces that experience steep year-over-year revenue drops, will increase by $2.9…