Canada’s finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, will provide a fiscal update next Tuesday. It will not be pretty. Federal finances are under increasing strain from slowing economic growth, expanded affordability measures, new social programs (such as dental care), massive subsidies for battery plants, and, perhaps most important of all, rapidly rising interest rates. In fact, the monthly interest costs of the federal government are now at an all-time high. The latest available data for August shows federal interest costs exceeded $4.3 billion, surpassing the previous record of $4.03 billion set in December 1995 . It’s more than double the pre-COVID amounts, as I illustrate below. And it’s the fastest acceleration in interest costs in recorded history ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary
A discussion on political, economic and social issues in British Columbia, and Canada