With Canadian governments having returned to deficit-financed spending, the growth in direct government debt has re-emerged as a serious public policy issue in Canada. The net direct debt of all three levels of government increased from $872.2 billion to $1.2 trillion between 2007/08 and 2011/12.

After hovering around parity with the US dollar for three years, Canada’s exchange rate fell sharply in 2013. Initially, the lower dollar was greeted with relief. But as the dollar continued to slide, people became more conscious of the costs to the domestic economy of a lower exchange rate: the benefits of a weaker loonie are likely to be small compared with its costs.

One of the longest standing shibboleths of Canadian public policy is that popular culture industries in Canada must be financially supported and protected by government if those industries are to survive. Moreover, the survival, if not the growth, of those industries—the “entertainment” industries—is essential to maintaining what supporters identify as Canada’s “national identity”.