wages
When Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced a budget update and a revised, lower forecast for provincial economic growth, it was yet another piece of evidence that Ontario’s economy is sluggish. But Ontario’s problems run deeper than just one fiscal update from one finance minister.
Question: If you’re young, or have very little education, where’s the best place in the country to find a job, make a decent income and prosper? Answer: Alberta, followed by Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Terrace city council recently shelved a proposal to implement a living wage policy. Terrace taxpayers should hope it stays shelved.
The May 2 minority Liberal budget is a politically expedient document that likely avoids an election but unfortunately fails to tackle Ontario's looming fiscal crisis. The longer the province waits, the more difficult and painful the reforms will be when the inevitable day of reckoning arrives.
As federal and many provincial governments continue to struggle with both deficits and finding ways to constrain spending, its odd that very little has been done on the compensation of public sector workers.
All told, TD Economics estimates that governments in Canada racked up $45.9 billion in deficits last year alone. Most governments in deficit continue to rely on a combination of trying to slow the growth in spending while hoping that revenues catch up.
When Alberta Premier Alison Redford took to the television screen the other night, she paid much attention to the revenue side of the government's books. On Alberta's massive budget deficit, the premier blamed the below-world price that Alberta-based companies receive for oil.