A Faster Track to Fiscal Balance: The 2011 Shadow Budget

The Commentary released today its 2011 federal Shadow Budget with a five-step plan to end the flow of red ink in Ottawa ahead of the government’s five-year timeline. In this paper, the authors show how Ottawa can return to budget surpluses in four years through more ambitious spending restraint and accelerate growth-friendly fiscal reforms. This faster track to budget surplus, say the authors, will position the federal government to launch new tax and spending initiatives around mid-decade, while protecting Canadians from possible debt-market disruptions arising from sovereign-debt concerns, and putting federal debt back on a downward track before the pressure of population aging on government finances intensifies.