Celebrate the sinking fund!
OK, that command might ask too much of Chrystia Freeland, the federal Minister Responsible for Almost Everything.
After all, sinking funds – accounts in which governments store money to pay off future debts – won’t send happy voters to the polls.
Instead, the funds help governments manage their finances soundly.
Imagine that!
Indeed, we do.
Up in the CrowsNest, we welcome signs that any Finance Minister is less interested in the political issues of the day than he or she is about managing government business in a way the promotes long-term economic growth.
We certainly got a fair share of political stuff in the April 16 budget address.
We heard a lot about new money for housing, and taxing the rich, and only a few hopeful utterances – based on rosy economic projections – about managing the country’s debt of more than $1 trillion.
The promise to punish the rich – by hiking capital gains taxes – makes for safe and populist politics.
But the same government also wants to promote the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector, which depends on raising venture capital from affluent investors.
As local entrepreneurs told allNovaScotia.com (April 19 edition), investors will be less willing to stake their money in high-risk startups under the new capital gains measures announced in the budget.
What about the millions of new homes which Ms. Freeland says will be built by 2031 under her budget measures?
That’s a good idea, but who’s going to build them? Canada’s shortage of skilled trades workers isn’t going away any time soon.
Overall, we get the sense that the new budget deals with the symptoms of Canada’s economic ailments (including that housing shortage). The tougher task, for any government, is dealing with the fundamental problems, including low economic productivity, a shortage of skilled workers, and uneven fiscal management.
In the CrowsNest, we recognize that any government of the day has to fashion budgets with the next election in mind. Still, we cleave to the old-fashioned notion that a Finance Minister should also manage the country’s economy and finances with the next generation in mind.
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