Examining Federal Debt in Canada by Prime Minister Since Confederation finds that by the end of his first term later this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have increased federal debt by 5.6 per cent per person—the largest increase of any prime minister in Canadian history who didn’t govern during a world war or recession. By contrast, other recent Liberal prime ministers such as Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Lester Pearson who also never governed during a world war or recession all cut per-person debt—Chrétien by 13 per cent, Martin by 8 per cent and Pearson by 6 per cent.

Albertans Make Disproportionate Contributions to National Programs: The Canada Pension Plan as a Case Study finds that in 2017, workers in Alberta paid $2.9 billion more into the Canada Pension Plan than Alberta retirees received in CPP payments. In fact, from 2008 to 2017, the total net contribution to the CPP from Albertan workers—the amount over and above what Alberta retirees were paid—was a staggering $27.9 billion. Ontario, the next highest contributing province, had a net contribution of just $7.4 billion over the same decade.

Causes of Poverty, the first in a new series exploring the underlying causes of poverty, finds Canadians who graduate high school, secure any kind of full-time employment and wait to have children until in a committed relationship have a 99 per cent chance of avoiding long-term poverty.