“𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦.” @sahirkhan.bsky.social and Heather Scoffield on trust, intergenerational fairness, social licence and why taxation remains one of the most difficult conversations in public policy.

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮 𝘃𝘀. “𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘁𝗮𝘅” 𝗨.𝗦. 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀—𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀? “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦.” @sahirkhan.bsky.social speaks with US tax expert Scott Pattison about what’s often missed in 🇨🇦–🇺🇸 comparisons.

𝐖𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. Watch Kevin Page and @sahirkhan.bsky.social talk about how 🇨🇦's fiscal choices are becoming harder as Canada approaches a tipping point on defence spending.

Canada’s economy has shown resilience in 2025—but confidence is fragile. @ifsd.ca President and CEO Kevin Page and Executive VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social unpack what the Fiscal Update said about growth, deficits, and why transparency and delivery will matter as Canada moves from plans to results.

"𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠‑𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚… 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 $28 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙨, 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩." @sahirkhan.bsky.social spoke to CBC Radio The Current host Matt Galloway on the Fiscal Update

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁‑𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆. 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆. As @sahirkhan.bsky.social said: “𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 — 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹.”

Congratulations to Annette Ryan on her appointment as Canada's new Parliamentary Budget Officer. Last month, former PBO Kevin Page and former Asst PBOs @sahirkhan.bsky.social and Mostafa Askari spoke about the challenges facing Ms. Ryan as she takes up the position at such a pivotal moment.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨." MPs vote to approve government spending (The Estimates) without a clear link to the govt's Budget plan. IFSD’s Kevin Page and @sahirkhan.bsky.social talk about how this creates confusion and what can be done to fix it.

Kevin Page and @sahirkhan.bsky.social discuss why Canada runs parallel Budget and Estimates systems, how this creates confusion, and how a better system would improve accountability and public trust. ▶️ Watch: youtu.be/ZZV9VRBHdpw 🎧 Listen: share.transistor.fm/s/ad8ec401

Will AI save the govt 💲? Or become another Phoenix-like fiasco for the government? @ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social told the @hilltimes.com the govt will “have to do some hard thinking” about how new AI cost savings can actually be achieved. www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...

""If the situation deteriorates on the economic side, this [budget] will have to shift,' says @sahirkhan.bsky.social of IFSD. 'It’s about confidence in the short term, but the results of a major capital strategy & defence strategy are going to be felt over decades.'” www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

Craving more #Budget2025 talk? IFSD VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social was a guest on CBC Radio's Ontario Today –– answering great questions from callers on yesterday's budget. Listen in here: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social told CBC the job cut target is “relatively modest” compared to what some expected but #Budget2025 was light on detail. "If you don’t know who’s getting cut, which programs are getting cut, how do you know what the results are going to be?” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social told CBC the deficit is manageable. "Everybody in the G7 would gladly trade positions with 🇨🇦. There is no fiscal crisis & we’re not on any precipice." But “in the end, it’s all about execution. That was the Achilles’ heel of the last govt.” www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

"Canada's former parliamentary budget officer and the head of the International Monetary Fund are both arguing Ottawa has room to run steeper deficits in the upcoming federal budget" Craig Lord of CP toronto.citynews.ca/2025/10/16/i...

Darren Major from CBCNews: "IMF head says Canada has fiscal wiggle room as larger deficit looms." IFSD's Kevin Page comments: "It's not shocking to see a deficit go up because the economy is slowing and we have NATO commitments. To me, it's sustainable," www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

This is a really useful table from the folks at IFSD — especially if we're about to talk a lot about public debt and the cost of carrying that debt. www.policymagazine.ca/budget-2025-...

I spoke with CBC's David Cochrane regarding the large fiscal reallocation exercise from the Carney Government. Lots to unpack about the spending base, strategy, targets, history of reviews and possible HR and other impacts. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

IFSD's Kevin Page and @DavidWCochrane have a substantive discussion on the gov't's decision to delay a budget until next year. KP: Too soon for a budget but a new Econ-Fiscal outlook required. Fall statement will end up looking like a budget (and should). www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

#ICYMI: In Behind the Ballot Episode 5, Sr. Consultant Greg Loerts and IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social unpack party platforms—and what the costing tells us about where the real priorities lie. Catch up before you cast your ballot: blueskystrategygroup.com/episode-5-pl... #cdnpoli #elxn45

"President Trump in an interview published Friday was adamant that he is serious about his talk of adding Canada as the 51st state" thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Think political platforms are just campaign theatre? Think again. From today's Behind the Ballot, IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social shares how costing a platform isn’t just math, it’s a political signal that shows where priorities (and trade-offs) lie. Watch now! #cdnpoli #elxn45

Kevin Page with Global News' Mackenzie Gray on the risk of firing the Bank of Canada Governor: "it would cause a financial shock. It would be a very bad move from a policy perspective and political one" globalnews.ca/video/111391...

“For the time being, the only exception to tariffs will be goods coming from Canada and Mexico that comply with the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement signed under Trump’s first term.” www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/b...

'There's no magic math': Why cutting government waste won't fund election promises, with Sahir Khan Hill Times: buff.ly/FpDE1UQ Apple: buff.ly/W9IqMDz Spotify: buff.ly/1wyvSJt

🎧 This week on WONK: Peter MacKay and @sahirkhan.bsky.social discuss the perils of public procurement and how the F-35 purchase still haunts us with host Amanda Lang.

My new piece on “fixing government” in Policy Magazine. It’s a public finance lens on doing better while building public confidence. www.policymagazine.ca/fixing-the-f...