Tag Archives: Ontario
Rapid Vaccinations Can Help Avoid the `Third Wave’ in Ontario
The following is a guest post by Miguel Casares (Universidad Publica de Navarra, Spain), Paul Gomme (Concordia University), and Hashmat Khan (Carleton University) Of utmost importance is improving our understanding of the complex interactions between: (a) the epidemiology that describes the evolution of the coronavirus/COVID-19; and (b) the social and economic choices of individuals. Towards […]
Public Health Spending and Pandemic Preparedness
As the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada begins to peak, there have several discussions and perspectives offered on how prepared Canada was for this pandemic as well as whether we moved quickly enough to address the situation. Obviously, the situation has improved markedly given that there is now time for these retrospectives […]
Addressing Ontario’s Fiscal Challenges
While 2017-18 saw a surplus of $642 million after years of deficits, the 2018-19 Ontario budget now projects a deficit of $6.7 billion and a net provincial debt of $325 billion with deficits projected to continue for five years afterwards. If one considers the recent report of the Auditor-General, then Ontario’s deficit may be even […]
Another Picture That Will Define Ontario Politics for the Next Four Years
Ontario is getting a Throne Speech this week and a budget next week and these events will set the stage for the June election. In her recent post, Frances drew attention to the province's public finances via the public sector wage bill and the public-private sector wage differential and that cutting the public sector wage […]
The Long Restructuring of Ontario’s Health Spending
Ontario’s hospital sector has made a submission to the provincial finance committee making the case that overcrowding has become so serious that there is a need for more funding. They are seeking a 4.55 percent increase in operating funds for the 2018-19 fiscal year in their pre budget submission. According to numbers calculated from data […]
Balancing Ontario’s Budget…In 1875
We often long for simpler times and search for them in our not so distant past. As an economist that does public finance and economic history, the public accounts of the past can offer me an interesting diversion. Governments, at any time in history always take in revenues and make payments and the budgets and […]
Is Ontario Spending Too Little on Hospitals?
Earlier this month, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions issued a media release for their The Fewer Hands, Less Hospital Care report, that made the following statement: “Based on the latest figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Ontario government funding for hospitals is $1,395.73 per capita. The rest of Canada, excluding Ontario, […]
Ontario Universities: Is Change Coming?
Well Happy New Year! The start of the New Year is as good a time as any for reflecting on the state of things – including universities. As 2015 dragged to a close, a number of items came out which of course did not generate too much of a stir given the run up to […]
Ontario and Its Neighbours
I suppose I have become somewhat obsessed with Ontario’s economy and its performance but here I go again with a few comparisons. Ontario is strategically located on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway adjacent to the huge population of the US northeast. Its neighbours are trade partners and markets as well as economic competitors. How does […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Ontario Budget Commentary
Well, another Ontario budget has come and gone. The government still plans to balance its budget by 2017. According to the budget projections it will do this largely by increasing revenues and restricting expenditure growth.