Even in a country with a secretive governance system, the secrecy that once surrounded the federal budget was remarkable.
For decades, both Liberal and Conservative federal governments have gradually eroded that once-sacred concept through selective up-front leaks.
But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken it to a new level. In lieu of leaks from anonymous sources, the prime minister is traveling around the country to preview various major budget measures to Canadians. Many appear aimed at drawing young voters back to the Liberal Party, including spending to increase housing, expand child care programs and introduce a national school lunch program.
There may be few major announcements left for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to make when she delivers the actual budget on April 16th.
“We have never seen this kind of pre-announcement of a budget roadshow at the prime minister level,” Jonathan Malloy, a political scientist at Carleton University who studies parliaments, told me. “We need an election next year and the government's poll performance is not good. That's an important factor. He needs coverage. He needs good news.”
Trudeau's approach stands in stark contrast to that of Louis Saint Laurent, Liberal prime minister from 1948 to 1957. Mr. Saint Laurent raised funds to avoid having his secretaries and secretaries learn about the budget measures in advance. Ministers personally type their budget speeches.
A secret machine that was developed over time and with a huge budget. Copies of the federal budget were transported across the country by the Air Force and escorted to Bank of Canada branches by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where they were sealed until the finance minister spoke. Government printers were holed up in printing plants, reporters were locked in conference rooms, and officials and political staff gave spins and explanations to check stacks of paper in advance.
“Over time, it almost became a fetish that this was just a unique secret document,” Professor Malloy said.
The leak was taken seriously. In 1989, Global TV reporter Doug Small broadcast details of the upcoming budget after receiving a summary version from a government official and a summary version from an acquaintance at a recycling plant. Mr. Small and four others were charged with theft and possession of stolen property. The court dismissed the lawsuit.
Unlike the U.S. budget, Canada's budget is not subject to lengthy negotiations and amendments. Either it passes more or less as presented, or the government collapses.
So the most common explanation for secrecy is that it prevents people from taking advantage of things like tax changes to their economic advantage. But Professor Malloy said there was little evidence that people had attempted such things in the past.
But he said keeping key parts of the bill secret until the last moment could allow the government to bury potentially unpopular policies in the bill, or at least deflect attention. He said that there is a sex. He added that quashing the leak also hampered internal government lobbying by ministries seeking more funding.
The decline in budget secrecy may also reflect a decline in the economic importance of the budget itself. Changes in government taxes and spending had a more profound impact on the Canadian economy when it became more isolated and less influenced by global forces. In the 1960s, the accounting firm where my father was a partner in Windsor, Ont., had a telex machine that would spit out a noisy but instant budget statement each year.
Professor Malloy said: “If you go back to Saint Laurent and further back, the budget was more about influencing the economy.” “But over time, the budget has become more of a story. It's not about how we shape the economy now. It's more about how governments generally What you do matters.”
trans canada
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My colleague Norimitsu Onishi traveled to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec to write about how African immigrants revived a remote mining community. Montreal-based photographer Nasna Stuart-Ulin also captured the scene vividly.
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This week, the Committee on Foreign Election Interference released details of a confidential intelligence report warning of continued attempts by the Chinese government to interfere in certain Canadian government elections in 2021. Mr Handon, a former Liberal MP, also testified. High school students from China were reportedly bussed in to vote for him.
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Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, was one of seven World Central Kitchen employees killed in Israel's airstrike on Gaza.
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Widely regarded as Canada's “first lady of jazz” in the 1950s, Eleanor Collins was known not only for her outstanding performances on radio, early television specials, and in nightclubs around Vancouver. He passed away. She was 104 years old.
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Joe Flaherty is an actor who played a variety of characters on SCTV, including Guy Caballero, the station's despicable president. Sammy Maudlin, serious late night talk show host. Count Floyd, host of “Monster Chiller Horror Theater,” has passed away. He was 82 years old.
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Canadian brothers Michael Schwartzman and Gerald Schwartzman each pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges in the Trump Media insider trading scheme.
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For Real Estate's On Location feature, we investigated the renovation of two saltbox homes in Salvage, Newfoundland.
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Researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University have discovered that garter snakes can distinguish themselves from other snakes using their sense of smell, rather than sight.
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Eric Asimov, chief wine critic for the New York Times, named Dear Margaret, a French-Canadian restaurant, as having one of the best wine lists in Chicago.
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Michael Roston, senior editor of the Health Sciences Desk, sent Vijosa Isai, myself, and 28 other journalists to cover the total solar eclipse that will pass from Mexico through the United States and across eastern Canada on Monday. I explained how to adjust it. The Times has also created a guide for viewing the solar eclipse.
Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austin was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa, and has reported on Canada for the New York Times for 20 years. Follow him on Bluesky. @ianausten.bsky.social.
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