Tag Archives: Ontario
Leviathan, Exit, Voice and Ontario Teachers
The last few weeks has seen the death of two economists – James Buchanan and Albert O. Hirschman – whose work has influenced my intellectual development and thinking over the years. Their thoughts combined with tomorrow’s “political action” by Ontario teachers against the soon to expire McGuinty government has caused me to think about what […]
Measuring Universities: Once More Unto the Breach
Making change sometimes involves an elaborate public discourse and preparation of affected stakeholders and in Ontario the discourse is towards getting people in the public sector to do more with less. The latest target was drawn to my attention by Alex Usher’s Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA) morning bulletin, which featured the preliminary report by […]
Growing Ontario One Report at a Time
The Conference Board of Canada has chimed in on what ails Ontario and how to get it moving in a recently released report titled Needed: A Comprehensive Growth Strategy for Ontario. The report argues that after rebounding from the 2008-09 recession, Ontario has slipped into tepid growth of around 2 percent annually and needs a […]
Why Dalton Left
Its no coincidence that on the same day as the Ontario Fall Economic Statement was released, Dalton McGuinty suddenly announced his resignation as Premier of Ontario. After the political acrimony and angst of dealing with teachers, doctors, civil servants and the opposition in a minority government situation, the outlook for Ontario’s 2012-13 deficit is 14.4 […]
Forecasting Deficits Ontario Style
One of my most piercing electoral memories is the 1993 federal election debate that featured then Prime Minister Kim Campbell, Jean Chretien, Audrey McLaughlin, Preston Manning and Lucien Bouchard. The part that always sticks in my mind is Lucien Bouchard’s persistent questioning of Campbell with respect to the size of the deficit in the 1993 […]
Why is Ontario’s Government Being So Mean to Its Teachers?
Being in Toronto for the Rimini Conference in Economics and Finance 2012 and standing in the shadow of Queen’s Park has led me to contemplate why the Ontario government is suddenly being so mean to its teachers. After years of Dalton McGuinty as the education premier with an expansion of education funding and programs, the […]
As the Federation Turns: Quetarian Public Finances
Quebec and Ontario, the twin pillars of the Canadian federation, have much in common given that they share the economic space of the Windsor-Quebec axis – an economic region nestled around the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway. Once upon a time, they were even one province but that fiery marriage had its ups and downs and […]
Ontario and its Physicians: Richer Than They Think No Longer
Ontario’s health minister Deb Matthews is moving into a major battle with the physicians in the process of trying to get health care costs under control as part of the provincial deficit fighting agenda. Deb Matthews has on a number of occasions remarked that Ontario’s physicians are the best paid in the country.
Ontario’s 2012 Budget: Bending the Spending Curve
Well the Ontario budget is out and despite all the talk of 30 percent across-the-board budget cutting in the wake of the Drummond Report, it forecasts more a deceleration of spending growth rather than steep cuts.
What is a University President Worth?
Along with the Canada geese returning home and the melting snow revealing buds of green growth, another sign of spring in Ontario is the unveiling of the sunshine list – those individuals in the Ontario public sector and broader public sector earning $100,000 or more. Included as always on the 2012 list are university salaries […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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