Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD)@IFSD_IFPD
𝗔 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 🇨🇦 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄: 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴—𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲❓
Increased defence spending—and how it’s communicated—is coming into sharper focus following @IFSD_IFPD President Kevin Page’s @TorontoStar op‑ed this week.
@CanadianPress' @Kyle_Duggan asked PM Mark Carney about why, as Kevin raised in his op-ed, the government hasn’t been more transparent about how Canada will go from spending 2% to 3.5% of GDP on defence.
💬 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴. 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵. 💬
(Kevin Page, Toronto Star, May 18)
With a weak economy, trade disruptions and rising defence commitments, Kevin agrees there's a clear case for increased public investment. But the fiscal implications are significant: elevated deficits, rising interest costs and reduced fiscal room. The government should be transparent about how they plan to manage the trade-offs
Kevin adds that there are entrenched views in the deficit debate—but both perspectives can hold at once.
The underlying challenge is one of balance: supporting growth and security in the near term while maintaining long-term fiscal sustainability.
💬 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 — 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲. 💬
🔗 CP (CBC): cbc.ca/news/politics/…
🔗 Read Kevin’s full Toronto Star op-ed: thestar.com/opinion/contri…
#cdnpoli #PublicFinance #FiscalPolicy #DefenceSpending
