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A decade of failure has propelled the Edmonton Oilers to win four of the last six NHL draft lotteries. The most recent lottery win landed Edmonton the hockey phenom, Connor McDavid, giving down-trodden Oilers fans a glimmer of hope. However, when it comes to EI, Edmontonians are not so lucky. According to the 2016 federal budget, only Albertans outside Edmonton will see increases to EI…

Last fall’s federal election campaign, and the new government’s announcements since, have left little doubt about the overall shape of next week’s federal budget. The Liberal platform promised billions of new spending, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fiscal update last month prefigured billions in deficits. So we will see a major attempt to spend, and borrow, the country richer. Maybe it will…

Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals has announced a $60-million plan to improve math training in elementary schools. The move comes in response to declining scores in standardized math tests, which showed that the portion of Grade 6 students meeting provincial standards fell to 54 per cent from 61 per cent over a five-year period. In that same period, scores in reading and writing…

The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s tussle with the Department of Finance about missing numbers in the latest federal budget projections shows that even experts have problems deciphering governments’ fiscal plans. And if the experts have problems, how about non-experts – legislators who vote on budgets and approve spending estimates, citizens concerned about public affairs or taxpayers…

In the United States and around the world, millions of people are now asking “how could this happen?” How can we make sense of an America in which Donald Trump becomes the next president? Discovering the real answer to this question will be good for America—and for Canada, too. Many people who are now angry and perplexed focus on Donald Trump, the man. They argue that he is the real problem…

The threat that the roll-out of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) in 2018 may further fragment Canada’s retirement system has moved Canada Pension Plan (CPP) expansion up the agenda for the June 20 federal-provincial finance ministers’ meeting. Yes, a bigger CPP looks better than the ORPP – but that is not saying much. Perhaps some higher-income Canadians could save more, but lack the…