IFSD – The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at uOttawa

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 👉 But this isn't about 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝘀. 👉 What counts is if 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 —and 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲. Budget 2026 will tell us.

💬 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 🇨🇦? Former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion spoke to Kevin Page on IFSD's 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 podcast about Canada's national unity. As Alberta votes this fall on whether they'll have a vote on separation, his points remain timely.

𝐖𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. Watch Kevin Page and @sahirkhan.bsky.social talk about how 🇨🇦's fiscal choices are becoming harder as Canada approaches a tipping point on defence spending.

Canada’s economy has shown resilience in 2025—but confidence is fragile. @ifsd.ca President and CEO Kevin Page and Executive VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social unpack what the Fiscal Update said about growth, deficits, and why transparency and delivery will matter as Canada moves from plans to results.

Congratulations to Annette Ryan on her appointment as Canada's new Parliamentary Budget Officer. Last month, former PBO Kevin Page and former Asst PBOs @sahirkhan.bsky.social and Mostafa Askari spoke about the challenges facing Ms. Ryan as she takes up the position at such a pivotal moment.

The whole @ifsd.ca team is looking forward to seeing our President & CEO Kevin Page be recognized with the 2026 🌟 Award of Distinction from the Ontario Economics Association (OEA) and the Canadian Association for Business Economics (CABE), on May 12 2026.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨." MPs vote to approve government spending (The Estimates) without a clear link to the govt's Budget plan. IFSD’s Kevin Page and @sahirkhan.bsky.social talk about how this creates confusion and what can be done to fix it.

Canada isn’t unique in facing tensions between central governments and provinces or states. But Stéphane Dion reflects on what does set 🇨🇦 apart: strong decentralization and the risk of “𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”

“Europeans and Canadians have always loved each other. But we never felt that we needed each other.” That has changed. As we see with PM Carney back Europe. The latest Politics of Money podcast has Stéphane Dion with Kevin Page, talking external sovereignty pressures and internal unity threats.

Before 2008, MPs and the public were severely limited in access to public finance info. Then the Parliamentary Budget Office was created. Kevin Page's founding PBO team talk building the Office, Annette Ryan's nomination, and why its needed now. 🎧Full podcast: ifsd-thepoliticsofmoney.transistor.fm

Less than half an hour until #Budget2025 is tabled. While you wait, check out IFSD's VP Sahir Khan speaking to CP24 about the high stakes and challenges facing the government today. And come back after the Budget is released for more on what today's budget means for you and 🇨🇦's economy.