Measuring the Fiscal Performance of Canada's Premiers, 2022

This report assesses the relative fiscal performance of Canadian premiers (eight current and three former) based on government spending, taxes, and debt and deficits up to fiscal year 2021/22.
Overall, the premiers ranked (of 10) and scored (of 100), as follows:
- 1^st Blaine Higgs, NB (75.8)
- 2^nd Brian Pallister,* MB (63.8)
- 3^rd Doug Ford, ON (60.6)
- 4^th Stephen McNeil*/Iain Rankin,* NS (60.4)
- 5^th John Horgan, BC (56.1)
- 6^th Jason Kenney,* AB (53.0)
- 7^th Dennis King, PE (52.7)
- 8^th François Legault, QC (41.1)
- 9^th Scott Moe, SK (40.8)
- 10^th Andrew Furey, NL (40.0))
*indicates former premier
Premier Higgs ranked highest on government spending (with a score of 98.9) ahead of McNeil/Rankin (89.1) and Pallister (86.6). Meanwhile, four premiers didn’t score above 50: Horgan (48.0), King (43.3), Moe (4.9), and Legault (0.9).
Premier Kenney led the pack by some margin on taxes (with a score of 82.3). The Atlantic Canadian premiers scored lowest on this measure: Higgs (7th), Furey (8th), King (9th), and McNeil/Rankin (10th).
On debt and deficits, Premier Higgs ranked highest (scoring 100.0) just ahead of Premier King (90.8). Two premiers failed to score above 50: Furey (27.0), and Kenney (0.0).