Tbnewswatch
ran a story on Thunder Bay City Council meeting attendance halfway through the
2014 to 2018 term. There were a total of
147 open and closed meetings over a two year period and the number of meetings
missed ranged from a low of 0 for Councillor Hebert to a high of 28 for Councillor
McKinnon according to the numbers presented in a Table. Of course, comparisons are often more striking when made using a graph.
Northern Economist 2.0
Tuesday 10 January 2017
Some Fiscal Issues of Note
Budget deficits have once again reared their head as a major policy issue at the federal level which is somewhat amusing given that not too long ago, the projection was for a new age of persistent surpluses at the federal level. Not only did the incoming Liberal government immediately begin running large deficits expected to continue until the early 2020s, but the forecast has worsened to an even longer run of deficits. The most recent projection by the Federal Finance Department says we are looking at deficits at the federal level until about 2055. For my take on this, see here.
As for budgets, deficits and fiscal sustainability at the provincial level - well, Ontario is still not out of the woods yet. Health spending is a big factor. The province's Financial Accountability Office has just released a report on trends and outlook in the Ontario health sector. Ontario is restraining health sector expense growth in an effort to balance its budget by 2017-18 but according to the FAO's review of the program changes introduced: "if the Province is to meet its 2016 Ontario Budget health sector expense targets, the Province will need to implement additional program changes that result in health sector expense savings of $0.4 billion in 2016-17, $0.9 billion in 2017-18 and $1.5 billion in 2018-19." The FAO also notes that the continuation of 2% annual average growth in health spending - which is what the government is currently doing - may be difficult to sustain beyond 2018-19 if service quality and level are not to be compromised.
As for budgets, deficits and fiscal sustainability at the provincial level - well, Ontario is still not out of the woods yet. Health spending is a big factor. The province's Financial Accountability Office has just released a report on trends and outlook in the Ontario health sector. Ontario is restraining health sector expense growth in an effort to balance its budget by 2017-18 but according to the FAO's review of the program changes introduced: "if the Province is to meet its 2016 Ontario Budget health sector expense targets, the Province will need to implement additional program changes that result in health sector expense savings of $0.4 billion in 2016-17, $0.9 billion in 2017-18 and $1.5 billion in 2018-19." The FAO also notes that the continuation of 2% annual average growth in health spending - which is what the government is currently doing - may be difficult to sustain beyond 2018-19 if service quality and level are not to be compromised.
Sunday 8 January 2017
Housing Prices in Sudbury and Thunder Bay: The Boom is Over
A key feature of housing markets in Canada over the last
decade is the sustained price increases particularly in larger urban
centers such as Vancouver and Toronto. Despite a relatively flat economy and stagnant population
growth, even northern Ontario has seen a price surge in its two largest urban
housing markets: Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay. However, while Ontario’s housing price surge especially in the GTA shows little sign
of abating, it appears that economic reality may have finally caught up with
northern Ontario’s largest housing markets as prices appear set to level off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)