Published in the National Post.
The C.D. Howe Institute has invited me to use this column to summarize the Regent Debate that the institute held in Toronto on Sept. 24. It was a well-attended and rollicking affair with a learned audience of several hundred or more people. The former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, and I defended the motion that the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States would be an opportunity for Canada. Our very worthy opponents were the former minister of finance John Manley, and the former Liberal politician and chair of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, Martha Hall Findlay. It is well-known that after Christie described president Trump as “Donald Duck…
Published in the Toronto Star.
It is critical for Canadians to have a conversation now about the prospect of a second Trump presidency. While the decisions of any U.S. president reverberate in Canada, Trump’s world view and governing style could wreak havoc on our politics and economy.
We have three major concerns for Canada with a Trump presidency as we outlined in the latest Regent Debate hosted by the C.D. Howe Institute: Damage to the Canadian economy, geopolitical security and a sinister, insidious deterioration of our discourse and democracy.
Conrad Black and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie argued the other side in the debate — that a Trump return was an opportunity for Canada — and it was a…
Published in the Financial Post
Pierre Poilievre has a slogan for fixing the budget: “pay as you go.” Though less catchy than “axe the tax,” it’s more likely to make Canadians better off. The Conservatives are pledging to balance the budget by reining in spending. A pay-as-you-go law would require new spending to be offset by reductions in existing spending.
Details of the spending cuts and the pay-as-you-go law are promised for the election campaign. Here’s some unsolicited advice on what the platform should say.
To begin with, a pay-as-you go law presupposes the existence of a cap on spending that would force new initiatives to be funded through reallocations. As I discuss in a recent C.D. Howe Institute paper, this…
