Public Finances

The harsh reality is that the province may have little choice. Manitoba currently finds itself in a precarious fiscal situation. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has calculated Manitoba’s debt to be exceeding $30 billion in 2013, with the present provincial government intent on adding another $24 billion in debt for Manitoba Hydro alone, this to build dams and transmission lines for shaky export markets against prevailing expert advice. A recent joint study by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies found that equalization payments to Manitoba are falling because fiscally challenged Ontario is increasingly crowding out the traditional have-nots at the federal transfer payment buffet table. The obvious answer is to bring, over time, provincial public sector employee complements down towards the national average sooner rather than later and save a very useful $2 billion annually.

As Nova Scotians await Premier Stephen McNeil’s spring budget, a member of the Ivany commission has made a bold suggestion that the government must look at: cutting the size of the civil service. John Bragg, president and co-CEO of Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd., suggested the cuts Wednesday at an address to an Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) event in Halifax. On the heels of the Ivany report — aptly titled Now or Never — we need bold action to reduce government costs. With a projected budget deficit of $220.6 million for 2014-15, a net debt of $14.8 billion, a stagnant economy, an aging population and rising costs, the province needs to figure out how to control spending. Governments commonly look to attrition to trim the public sector, but given the urgency of the challenges facing Nova Scotia, it may not be enough. Last year, AIMS released a report that said Nova Scotians have more civil servants, 99 per 1,000 residents, compared to the national average of 84 p

Telegraph Journal commentator Charles Moore discusses the AIMS publication "The Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada's Public Sector" and argues that it is time for reform.