Juno News - Majority of provincial finance ministers receive failing grade from taxpayers

00:00:00.000 Most of Canada's finance ministers have received low grades from Canada's taxpayer watchdog.

00:00:10.780 Alberta has lifted their ban on American-made liquor, but a hefty surtax on the product's

00:00:15.700 remains. Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney's indication of interest, a sizable majority of

00:00:21.300 Canadians reject joining President Donald Trump's Golden Dome program. Hello Canada,

00:00:26.720 it's Wednesday, June 11th, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin Georgia.

00:00:31.360 And I'm Noah Jarvis.

00:00:32.540 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:35.320 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:43.400 The majority of Canada's finance ministers earned failing or barely passing grades on the Canadian

00:00:49.220 Taxpayer Federation's annual performance report card as raising debt levels leave taxpayers footing

00:00:55.580 the bill. While spending increased in every province compared to last year's budget, the CTF graded the

00:01:02.120 performance of finance ministers on several criteria, including debt levels, interest payments,

00:01:09.120 spending increases, and tax relief. Even the nation's top reformer didn't receive an A.

00:01:14.600 The CTF gave Saskatchewan finance minister Jim Ryder a B+. Gage Howbrick, CTF's Prairie director,

00:01:23.560 said, quote, it's great to see Saskatchewan trim taxes, but it also needs to stop racking up debt

00:01:29.520 and wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on debt interest payments. Ryder received his lowest

00:01:35.340 mark in the debt category earning a C after the provincial government increased its debt by $2.4

00:01:42.460 billion this year compared to last. Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner followed with an overall

00:01:48.880 score of B. Horner scored an A-plus in tax relief after cutting the lowest income tax rate from 10% to 8%,

00:01:56.580 saving a typical Albertan two-person family about $1,500 annually. However, Horner saw the other extreme

00:02:04.200 in the spending increase category earning an F. Alberta's spending increased by 8.4% this year,

00:02:10.380 the second highest growth nationwide. The streak of B grades ended with Nova Scotia Finance Minister

00:02:16.540 John Lohr, who earned a C-plus coming in third place. Lohr earned an A in tax relief after implementing

00:02:23.920 a 1% HSD cut and a small business tax rate cut. However, Lohr earned a D in the debt category after

00:02:31.140 increasing the provincial debt by $2.2 billion this year. It will reach $22.4 billion by year's end,

00:02:39.560 totaling $20,776 per person, the sixth highest nationwide. Despite earning Fs in numerous

00:02:47.540 categories, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy narrowly avoided a failing grade

00:02:54.140 overall with his D-. Bethlenfalvy got an F in debt after increasing the debt by nearly $22 billion

00:03:01.540 year-over-year. Per-person debt will reach $28,472 by year's end, the second highest nationwide. He also earned

00:03:11.320 an F in spending increases after increasing spending by 7.9% compared to last year, the third highest in the

00:03:20.040 country. British Columbia Finance Minister Brenda Bailey also narrowly avoided a failing grade with her D-.

00:03:27.140 Bailey got an F in debt after increasing the provincial debt by $23.6 billion this year. By the end of the

00:03:34.720 year, British Columbians will owe over $27,000 each, the fourth highest per capita debt nationwide.

00:03:41.920 The last Finance Minister to earn a D- overall grade was Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard. He received Fs in

00:03:50.660 both the debt and debt interest payment categories. Quebec will increase its provincial debt by $13.6 billion

00:03:57.500 this year. The province's budget was so poor that it received its first credit downgrade since the 1990s

00:04:05.060 after tabling it. I think Canadians looking at the results of this report card will be disappointed,

00:04:12.520 but not surprised. At the provincial level, and especially at the federal level, I feel like

00:04:19.880 Canadians have become accustomed to finance ministers who overspend, who rack up debt, and have no real plan

00:04:29.180 to balance budgets and cut deficits. And while this has happened for a while, I think the trend

00:04:36.840 towards just massive spending programs was really accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. And

00:04:44.440 once governments got an appetite for spending massive amounts of taxpayer money and dishing it out,

00:04:52.120 a little bit of it out to taxpayers as a sort of vote buying scheme, they couldn't put that down and

00:04:59.320 continue to do it to this day in many forms. But Noah, beyond that, why are Canada's finance ministers

00:05:07.160 performing so badly and are unable to be fiscally responsible?

00:05:13.720 I think Canadian governments, whether they're the federal government, provincial government,

00:05:17.720 they suffer from a problem of not being able to plan ahead for the future. We saw provincial

00:05:24.040 governments and the federal government especially rack up government debt by, you know, tabling budgets

00:05:29.560 that had excessive spending plans so that when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, governments had to go

00:05:36.360 so far into deficit spending that they were the federal government was spending hundreds of

00:05:41.560 billions of dollars in just deficit spending. And it really caused an inflation crisis that many

00:05:47.240 Canadians are still feeling the effects of today. And you saw a similar story after the COVID-19 pandemic,

00:05:54.920 when budgets sort of normalized back to normal levels, although those normal levels were actually quite

00:06:00.840 a bit higher than what they were before the pandemic. But instead of normalizing the provinces or the

00:06:07.640 countries finances, trying to run budgets with surpluses, instead, these finance ministers decided to

00:06:15.240 bring in new spending programs, new government programs, expand the public sector to such a degree

00:06:21.880 that when President Trump's tariffs are slapped onto Canadian goods and Canada is projected to go

00:06:29.080 into recession, many of these finance ministers have to report these large deficits because they are

00:06:36.200 projecting a decrease in government revenues for good reason. It's because they have not been able to

00:06:42.680 manage their provinces or their or the country's finances in a way that would be responsible. I think

00:06:48.680 the fact that Alberta's finance minister has received a B grade shows the commitment of that province

00:06:57.400 and their finance minister and Premier Smith to at least try to rein in the province's finances. I know

00:07:04.440 Premier Smith a while back announced that the province would be setting up a fund that would be replenished

00:07:13.320 every year, especially with government surpluses. And that fund would basically act as a rainy day fund. You

00:07:21.880 don't really have any other provinces establishing such a fund. And in due course, you're having, say,

00:07:29.160 the Quebec finance minister, Eric Girard, receiving a D minus. In my province of Ontario, you have finance

00:07:36.600 minister Bethlen Falvey, who tabled a budget with a $14.7 billion deficit. This is not a federal government

00:07:45.240 tabling a budget with a $14.7 billion deficit. This is a province. Even though it is the largest province,

00:07:52.680 it is still quite absurd that Ontario's debt is reaching close to $500 billion, as is projected to reach in two years. So if these

00:08:03.560 finance ministers want to receive better grades from Canada's premier financial taxpayer watchdog,

00:08:11.240 I think they need to take a whole new approach to crafting their budgets, try to cut government

00:08:17.400 spending, try and cut the size of the civil service so that you can actually return the government books

00:08:24.280 back to the Greens. Albertans can once again purchase American-made liquor after the province

00:08:32.600 ended a three-month ban on U.S. alcohol imports. However, new products will still be subject to a

00:08:38.360 steep surtax. The Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Commission announced Friday it is once again

00:08:43.960 allowing U.S. liquor products to enter the province following a directive from the provincial government.

00:08:49.000 The move comes after Premier Daniel Smith's government halted U.S. liquor imports in March

00:08:54.360 as part of Alberta's response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian goods.

00:09:00.360 Under the new policy, liquor agencies can once again book shipments of U.S. alcohol

00:09:05.080 through the AGLC system. However, a 25% surtax remains in place for American liquor products

00:09:12.280 shipped after March 4th. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra welcomed the province's decision on

00:09:17.640 Friday. He said, quote, very glad to see that Albertans can once again enjoy a cold U.S. beer or glass of

00:09:24.200 wine. Thanks to Premier Daniel Smith for your leadership in removing this barrier to fair and reciprocal trade.

00:09:30.040 Smith first announced the liquor ban on March 6th, saying it was part of a broader strategy to

00:09:35.080 support Canadian producers in the face of U.S. trade actions. She said a collective move by

00:09:40.280 premiers to remove U.S. products would result in an estimated $3 billion revenue loss for American

00:09:45.880 suppliers, motivating them to lobby Congress for an end to the tariffs. The lifting of Alberta's

00:09:51.080 liquor ban comes amid ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the United States. While U.S. alcohol

00:09:57.240 products are once again available for import, the province's broader position on the trade measures,

00:10:02.600 including restrictions on new pipeline deals with the U.S., remains in place. So Cosmin, we saw

00:10:07.480 Canada's premiers from across the country remove American liquor from Canadian liquor store shelves

00:10:15.320 because they felt that the tariffs were an attack against Canadian industry and the Canadian economy,

00:10:20.360 and they wanted to collectively do some sort of performative act that would show that they are

00:10:25.800 standing side by side in combating these tariffs by, at the very least, removing American-made liquor from

00:10:32.280 store shelves. However, Premier Smith is breaking from the pack. Once again, she is now saying that

00:10:39.480 American liquor should be restocked. So what message is Premier Smith trying to send by restocking

00:10:45.240 Alberta shelves with American-made liquor? Well, it's a show of good faith, right, while also maintaining

00:10:51.560 some leverage because the 25% surtax remains. But Smith, by doing that, signals that Alberta is not

00:11:00.600 going to abandon its concerns about the unfair trade tariffs that were imposed on Canada and Alberta.

00:11:09.480 But as they're also willing to be a constructive partner and to get rid of these, you know,

00:11:16.360 U.S. liquor bans is a sort of olive branch extending towards the U.S., indicating that it's time to work

00:11:25.400 together to be more open and negotiate a way out of this entire mess. And I'd like to point back that it

00:11:33.960 was really Danielle Smith who warned from the start that a tit-for-tat trade war with the U.S. would 0.95

00:11:41.080 ultimately harm Canadians more than the United States. And it's proven to be true. I think it was obvious 1.00

00:11:49.000 to everybody who was looking at this from a clear perspective at that time when the Liberal government

00:11:57.320 was talking about a dollar-for-dollar retaliation. Even Conservative leader Pierre Polyev, who might

00:12:05.480 want us or Canadians at large to forget this, was also advocating dollar-for-dollar retaliation against

00:12:12.760 the U.S. It just really underscores how consistent Smith has been on this and to prioritize diplomacy

00:12:21.880 and trade policy over these headline-grabbing, you know, overtures about retaliation that

00:12:33.000 on paper don't make sense, but might sound good, especially during an election period as we saw it during

00:12:40.200 the federal election. And the liquor ban itself, it was always meant to be a temporary measure,

00:12:47.240 an indication that Alberta was willing to fight back and harm an industry that is quite lucrative

00:12:55.160 in Canada. The U.S. alcohol industry does make money off Canadian consumers, but it wasn't supposed

00:13:01.320 to be permanent. And I suspect, you know, as the trade war develops and the continuing negotiation between

00:13:11.000 the Canadian government and U.S. trade representatives, hopefully it will result in some trade deal and

00:13:18.360 provinces will follow suit. But again, Smith seems to have bucked this trend towards retaliation and been

00:13:27.320 an early adopter of the right way forward, which is collaboration, negotiation, and finding common ground.

00:13:36.600 A majority of Canadians do not want to join U.S. President Donald Trump's Golden Dome Continental

00:13:45.720 Missile Defense System, despite early indications of a desire by Prime Minister Mark Carney to have

00:13:51.640 Canada included in the program. In a poll conducted by Nanos Research, Canadians were asked if Canada

00:13:57.960 should, quote, pay the price to be included in the Golden Dome missile shield, or if the government should

00:14:04.440 instead focus spending on boosting the Canadian Armed Forces capability. The poll in question disclosed

00:14:11.000 that the program would cost taxpayers an estimated $61 billion, or approximately $83.5 billion when

00:14:21.240 converted to Canadian currency. The poll found that 63% of Canadians say that we should not be part of

00:14:28.760 funding the Golden Dome system should instead boost funding for the CAF, while only 17% say Canada should

00:14:37.320 pay the price and be part of it. Opposition to the Golden Dome cuts across several demographic groups,

00:14:44.200 as a majority of Canadians from every province and of all ages oppose contributing funding to the

00:14:50.760 program, though men are twice as likely to support the program than women. The Golden Dome, named after

00:14:57.560 Israel, Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, is the Trump administration's latest project to

00:15:03.240 create a missile defense system to intercept foreign missile attacks on the United States. Trump has

00:15:09.640 promised that the Golden Dome would cost $175 billion to develop and will be built by the end of his

00:15:16.200 presidential term, three and a half years. While the president said that Canada would have to pay $61 billion to be

00:15:23.640 included in the system, the Golden Dome would cost nothing if Canada decided to become the 51st state.

00:15:31.640 Trump claimed that Carney is, quote, considering the offer. Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed that

00:15:37.080 his government is engaged in ongoing discussion about Canada's inclusion in the Golden Dome project,

00:15:42.840 though nothing has been finalized yet. What this survey really fails to ask is whether Canada

00:15:49.720 really has a choice, given the trend of global escalation of conflicts, etc. Being left defenseless

00:15:59.640 doesn't seem like a good idea. And additionally, there is a sort of false equivalency here that

00:16:05.880 the Canadian Armed Forces, just boosting spending on the CAF's capabilities, could somehow be equivalent to

00:16:14.920 having a continental-wide missile defense system. And if you know anything about the state of the CAF,

00:16:24.040 the state of Canada's defenses and military capabilities, we simply do not have the capacity

00:16:32.760 to have a continental-level missile defense system. We couldn't build it ourselves. First of all,

00:16:40.760 we don't have the technological know-how or manpower to pull it off. And secondly, the CAF is hardly

00:16:52.680 capable of meeting current mission capabilities, let alone something as wide-reaching and wide in scope

00:17:01.080 as a continental missile shield. So given that, NOAA, does this project represent the next inevitable

00:17:10.680 step in providing a defense for North America, given worst-case scenarios, like an attack directly

00:17:20.280 on U.S. or Canadian territory, God forbid? I think so, especially if this is the direction that the

00:17:26.760 United States President wants to take. I mean, just look at how effective Israel's Iron Dome missile

00:17:33.720 defense system is at protecting their own country. You can look at the videos online,

00:17:38.920 and they're quite astonishing with just how effective the Iron Dome system is. And I'm

00:17:43.560 pretty sure President Trump sees those same clips and wants the same thing for North America. And

00:17:48.680 quite frankly, since the end of the Cold War, Canada, the United States, Europe, the entire Western

00:17:54.760 world has taken defense for granted. They've taken the fact that the world is generally a secure

00:18:02.520 place where war is, you know, becoming less and less frequent. But this is something that you can't

00:18:09.400 really take for granted anymore, as you have a war between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas terrorists

00:18:15.080 attacking a Western liberal democracy, as has been the case throughout Israel's entire history. But 0.57

00:18:21.960 nonetheless, it is still an important conflict that many people around the world are paying attention to. And

00:18:28.680 it's also the case with the Russia-Ukraine war, where people are feeling increasingly unsafe with

00:18:35.320 the prospect of a Russia that is emboldened by its territorial conquest of Eastern Ukraine. So I think

00:18:44.760 that creating a continental missile defense system is the next step in protecting the United States,

00:18:52.680 Canada, North America more generally. And it looks like this missile defense system could be the

00:18:57.720 next step in advancing Canada and the United States relationship through NORAD. Right now,

00:19:02.680 Canada and the United States, they are in a joint organization to provide for continental defense,

00:19:09.960 it's called NORAD. And under NORAD's auspices, they have something called the North Warning System,

00:19:15.560 which is a radar detection system that would detect whether or not Canada and the United States is

00:19:23.160 under siege generally from the threat of Russian nuclear attacks. But this would also apply to

00:19:29.320 China. But the North Warning System is becoming outdated. It needs to be replaced by the United 1.00

00:19:35.720 States and Canada collectively. And perhaps instead of replacing it with a new North Warning System,

00:19:42.360 you're instead going to have the Golden Dome, which not just acts as a warning system, but actually

00:19:48.120 functions as a missile defense system. With that said, it is quite the expensive project. Trump estimated

00:19:54.520 that it'll cost $175 billion and that Canada would have to pay $61 billion. Sure, that would help Canada

00:20:03.400 in getting closer to our commitment to getting to spending 2% of GDP on defense. However, as you mentioned,

00:20:11.560 Canada's armed forces really has some very basic problems. We don't have enough military men in

00:20:19.240 the forces. We don't have enough equipment, whether that be small arms, large arms, ammunition. We don't

00:20:26.040 have the next generation of fighter jets yet, the F-35s. Canada is still working on that purchase. However,

00:20:34.600 the Carney government has indicated that they're reviewing the contract and might actually cancel it.

00:20:39.720 There are some very fundamental needs that Canada's military has. And instead of perhaps meeting

00:20:46.680 them with this Golden Dome project, you could focus on the basics of getting an icebreaker to help

00:20:54.440 police the Arctic, of getting the vehicles and the equipment that our military men need. So it will be

00:21:02.760 coming on Mark Carney to pick the right decision, to choose the right path, whether or not

00:21:07.640 to collaborate with the American president in creating this Golden Dome project, or if he feels

00:21:14.280 as if this is a project that has a potential to overrun in its costs and instead the money would be

00:21:22.840 better spent in providing for those most more fundamental needs that the Canadian Armed Forces has.

00:21:28.600 But nonetheless, I would feel more safe if the entirety of North America was protected by the Golden Dome.

00:21:37.640 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by

00:21:45.240 subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it, make sure to hit us with

00:21:50.440 a five-star rating and please leave a review.

Juno News - June 11, 2025

Majority of provincial finance ministers receive failing grade from taxpayers

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript