Aug 2 2020 — Heather Scoffield — St. Catharines Standard, Toronto Star — Conventional wisdom has it that a leader can’t oust his finance minister in times of economic instability because such a move would compound the instability. Traditionally, firing a finance minister signals to the world that something is dreadfully wrong, either with a country’s economic policy or with the governance of the country’s money. That’s not […]
Jul 28 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — The virtual water-cooler topic du jour around Parliament Hill is of course all about what kind of permanent damage the WE fiasco will do to the Liberals. Will heads roll? Can Finance Minister Bill Morneau last much longer? Will there be a cabinet shuffle? Will the Liberals dig in their heels and goad the opposition […]
Jul 25 2020 — Heather Scoffield — St. Catharines Standard — Here’s a riddle to start your weekend. What kind of program could put hundreds of millions of government dollars to productive use for the sake of young people, safe employment during the pandemic, inclusive growth and make the federals Liberals look good? No, not a contract for WE charity. The answer is: child care, for […]
Jul 23 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Finance Minister Bill Morneau would have us believe that he was so caught up in the financial plight of students that it never dawned on him that he might have a conflict of interest in the question of whether to award a contract to the WE Charity to administer a $900-million program. It slipped his […]
Jul 22 2020 — Heather Scoffield — St. Catharines Standard — At the height of the pandemic lockdown, the federal Liberals and the public service had a good thing going. In April, as COVID-19 was ripping through long-term-care homes and the everyday world of work and socializing had evaporated, politicians and bureaucrats were focused like a laser on doing “whatever it takes” to float the Canadian […]
Jul 17 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — A finance minister should always be beyond reproach, but never more so than during an economic crisis. Integrity is one of those crucial ingredients in managing an economic disaster — especially when financial markets are in turmoil, businesses are on the brink and billions of dollars are being approved in double time to buoy up […]
Jul 15 2020 — Heather Scoffield — St. Catharines Standard — We are entering the euphoria stage of the pandemic economy — surging on a sugar high after a deep, dark shutdown, but only in a temporary way before the long slog to total recovery. The Bank of Canada has at last published a “central scenario” for what the future holds, and while it’s not quite […]
Jul 14 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Welland Tribune — When Justin Trudeau apologized Monday for his lapse in judgment about WE Charity, he delivered it with a giant bouquet of flowers — a promise to extend the 75 per cent wage subsidy for troubled companies until the end of the year. That may or may not be enough to persuade the public to forgive […]
Jul 10 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — JOIN THE CONVERSATION The interview with Navdeep Bains kicked off with pandemic pleasantries about how the family was faring — inquiries about the children, their health and their anxiety levels. As the innovation minister pointed out later in the discussion, it’s an entirely appropriate way to begin a conversation about the economic recovery. He is […]
Jul 8 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — The federal government is placing its bets on a beefed-up wage subsidy to take the Canadian economy out of crisis and set it on a steadier footing — even though the program is likely to add $82 billion to the already-giant deficit. Finance Minister Bill Morneau has just released his first full accounting of the […]
Jul 7 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Finance Minister Bill Morneau will be walking a fine line as he presents his first full reckoning of pandemic spending and deficits on Wednesday, trying to convey multiple messages to multiple audiences with limited information. He will need to indicate that the government still cares for those hardest hit by the pandemic while showing that […]
Jun 27 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Before the pandemic hit, when the opposition Conservatives were attacking the Liberals for running up the deficit, Justin Trudeau would point to the country’s triple-A credit rating as proof that his government was on the right track, thank you very much. Canada’s debt has been considered top-notch by financial markets since 2004, and the triple-A […]
Jun 26 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — As the pandemic lockdown took hold of the country’s economy this spring, Nadine Spencer and the Black Business and Professional Association that she heads quickly decided to open up their helpline for 24 hours a day. Spencer took the calls herself during off-hours, with distraught business owners sometimes reaching out in the middle of the […]
Jun 23 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Central bankers always choose their words with excruciating care, and so the warning in Tiff Macklem’s first speech as governor of the Bank of Canada should command our attention. The Canadian economy is in for a rough ride, Macklem told a virtual audience on Monday in his first formal address since taking the job earlier […]
Jun 20 2020 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Here’s a reminder for all the politicians at the federal-provincial negotiating table these days: the recovery of our economy depends on immediate changes to child care. Every day of delay in figuring out how to look after the children of workers in the pandemic economy is a loss for a safe reboot, a drain on […]