Federal budget

Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland delivers the 2020 fiscal update in the House of Commons on Nov. 30, 2020 (CP/Sean Kilpatrick)

How to tax the wealthy without a ‘wealth tax’

Michael Smart: To boost fairness, productivity and government revenue, tax capital gains

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way to a press conference in Ottawa on Oct. 16, 2020 (CP/Sean Kilpatrick)

A progressive federal budget and how to pay for it

Ed Broadbent and Brittany Andrew-Amofah: To ‘build back better’ Canada will need childcare, pharmacare, a green recovery—and new measures to sustain them

The Liberals are spending far more than they said they would

Economist Stephen Gordon unpacks the federal government’s finances to explain why the deficit is so much bigger than Trudeau promised

Fact-checking Budget 2016: Sunny ways, cloudy wording

We put Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget speech to the test

What it feels like to be a reporter on Parliament Hill on budget day

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a reporter on Budget Day on Parliament Hill? This is the hubbub that happens behind the scenes as Canadian political reporters convene in Ottawa for the high-stakes media scrums.

The Editorial: Joe Oliver neglects prompt accounting at his own peril

In waiting to see where oil prices go before he delivers a budget, Joe Oliver is ignoring his obligation to the public

Breaking down the Conservatives’ shaky federal surplus

The Tories may be trumpeting the merits of their federal surplus, but they seem to be ignoring some underlying risks

Jim Flaherty’s balancing act

From the Maclean’s archives: Jim Flaherty insists he won’t leave. Loyal Conservatives are wondering how long he’ll last.

Fun with federal finance

Notes on the budget, the cuts and the surplus

The return of the federal structural deficit?

Even the Department of Finance’s own figures suggest the red ink is here to stay

According to the Conservatives, your government is awesome

The federal government is spending tens of millions on commercials that make the Tories look good

Assisted Human Reproduction Canada: the budget cut everyone missed

The agency was largely useless but its shuttering curtails federal oversight of fertility treatments