"By one key measurement, Canada is already “the 51st State” that Donald Trump cruelly and senselessly characterizes as being its future. The World Bank puts the U.S. 2025 GDP per person at $90,250. Canada’s 2025 GDP per person is $55,698. Mississippi, the poorest state in America, sits at $55,877. So Canada’s national average is below the level of all 50 U.S. states. The Economist bluntly quotes Jean Charest, who was premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012, as believing that “Canadians may one day thank America’s president for shocking them out of a slumber.” The first sign that may be happening came from British Columbia on Saturday. As Charest himself puts it, “Trump is now telling us we have no choice but to change.”" @johnfund

Carney’s “prudent banker” brand is dead. The PBO just showed the books are being cooked Debt-service costs are now the fastest-growing federal expense: $25B five years ago → $59B this year (already larger than the Canada Health Transfer) → $83B in five years. Pure interest, paid before anything else PBO Annette Ryan: the government’s fiscal “anchors” are “more like traffic lights.” Capital spending gets a green light; operating spending is a yellow at best. “Limited fiscal discipline. It’s not stopping spending.” Real cash borrowing over five years: $733B. New debt from deficits: only $333B. The ~$400B gap is being parked with Crown corporations, loans and special funds—“a step removed from parliamentary oversight.” New risks, she said, and less transparency The former Bank of Canada/Bank of England governor who once policed balance sheets is now redefining accounting so the headline targets stay pretty while the actual liability grows off-books. Taxpayers get stuck with the interest bill @PBO_DPB