Blogger, writer, editor, retired proposal expert, birder, kayaker, grandmother.
Joined November 2012
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Please help me help Food Banks Canada | Banques alimentaires Canada by buying my #proposal memoir. All royalties donated. lnkd.in/gSMgPt7
Isabel Gibson retweeted
I’ve always said that the Liberal Party’s superpower is shamelessness. Its ability to reframe failures or weaknesses into successes or strengths is impressive gaslighting.
Last year’s deficit is down relative to forecasts in large part because planned spending was ultimately $14B lower. The government didn’t revisit this spending. It just didn’t disburse it on schedule and much has been shifted into subsequent years.
We know that’s the case because spending in the current fiscal year is set to rise by $44B—or 9%—and the deficit is set to jump to more than $60B—or 60%.
The government, in other words, is aiming to take credit for fiscal restraint for monies it couldn’t get out the door and still intends to spend.
Canada’s 2025–26 financial results came in stronger than projected.
The $39.3B deficit was $27.5B lower than forecasted, supported by higher revenues and lower-than-expected program expenses.
ALT Budget 2026 Annual Financial Report 2025–26 infographic highlighting a $39.3 billion federal deficit, $27.5 billion lower than projected in the Spring Economic Update, and 3.0% growth in federal revenues from 2024–25, a $15.5 billion increase. A red maple leaf and Parliament appear on the right.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
Reminder that Canada under the Harper government *did* raise the OAS eligibility age.
Had Trudeau not reversed this courageous reform, we would be spending $11 billion less on OAS by 2029, according to the PBO.
When OAS was created in 1952, the benefit began at age 70. Life expectancy was 68, and the ratio of workers to retirees was 8 to 1.
Eligibility is now at 65, with life expectancy at 81, and the ratio of workers to retirees down to 3 to 1.
The current system represents a massive, unjust intergenerational transfer of wealth which is obviously unsustainable.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
I wear a poppy for the men and women who defended our country
I wear a poppy for those men and women who still serve today
I wear a poppy for those who served our country and sacrificed everything
And I wear it for my great uncle Chuck who died in WW2
#Remember
Isabel Gibson retweeted
Reminder that in Pierre Trudeau's last term in office (1980-1984) he almost cut immigration levels IN HALF, from 143,000 PR admissions to 88,000.
That's because Canada was going through a recession, and it made no sense to add large numbers of new people into the Canadian labour market when people were struggling to find work.
Now that young people are struggling to find work, wages are lagging behind inflation, there is huge excess demand over supply in our health care system, and public support for immigration is waning, what does the Liberal government do?
Massively increase immigration levels.
This is one of the worst public policy decisions in modern Canadian history. And unlike most bad policies, it is effectively irreversible.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
70 years ago, in November 1956, the UN created its first peacekeeping force during the Suez Crisis, an idea proposed by Canada’s Lester B. Pearson. We honour the Canadians who served in peacekeeping missions, and their families. #NeverAlone #LestWeForget
Il y a 70 ans, en novembre 1956, l’ONU créait sa première force de maintien de la paix lors de la crise de Suez, sur une proposition du Canadien Lester B. Pearson. Nous honorons les Canadien·ne·s qui ont servi dans des missions de maintien de la paix ainsi que leurs familles. #Jamaisseul #Jamaisseule #NoublionsJamais
Isabel Gibson retweeted
We spend an insane amount of money on OAS, sending welfare cheques to retired millionaires. We could cut OAS, boost GIS to seniors actually experiencing poverty, and still save tens of billions of dollars.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
Tinkering again with Cavafy, new Ithaka (following the rhythm of the original and translating line-by-line) ending:
Ithaka gave you this: the lovely journey.
Without her you would never have set out,
and she has nothing more to give you now.
And if you find her poor, she’s not deceived you:
you’ll have become so wise, and seen so much,
that you will know by now what Ithakas mean.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
My sons friend is missing, anyone in the Grande Prairie area keep your eyes open.
He may have a guitar with him.
<A real “first principles” program review with teeth would be a strong signal of the govt’s seriousness. This involves asking fundamental questions of every program: Should the gov't even be in this space?>
thehub.ca/2026/11/04/canadas…
<Defusing the anti-Americanism [Carney] helped stoke will cost him...with people who liked the war footing. He should pay it. A country that regards its largest customer & only neighbour as an enemy is a cntry making bad decisions about everything from pipelines to procurement.>
ICYMI: Rudyard Griffiths and Sean Speer: The rupture that wasn’t: America just voted, and Carney’s Davos thesis didn’t survive the night thehub.ca/2026/11/04/the-rup…
<For Canada and its democratic partners, the lesson is clear. Do not mistake Beijing’s ambition for capability.>
thebureau.news/p/beijings-be…
<American policy shouldn’t be swayed by vague moral arguments or gauzy stories about historical friendships. It should serve no other purpose than furthering America’s objective goals.>
For years, both parties have turned aid to Israel into a proxy fight for domestic political grievances. If these elections are an excuse to end that arrangement, we’ll all be better for it, writes Liel Leibovitz. thefp.com/p/why-the-midterms…
Isabel Gibson retweeted
During Veterans’ Week, from November 5 to 11, we recognize and honour the service and resilience of Canada’s veterans. Their dedication to our country has helped shape the freedoms we enjoy today.
Their legacy lives on through the values they defended and the generations they inspired. It also lives on in the connections they build with one another. 93% of veteran graduates surveyed three months after their program with us reported socializing with one another. To learn more about our programs, contact us at [email protected].
#neveralone #RemembranceWeek
Pendant la Semaine des vétérans, du 5 au 11 novembre, nous reconnaissons et honorons le service et la résilience des vétéran·e·s du Canada. Leur dévouement envers notre pays a contribué à façonner les libertés dont nous jouissons aujourd’hui.
Leur héritage se perpétue à travers les valeurs défendues et les générations inspirées. Il vit aussi dans les liens qui se tissent entre vétéran·e·s. 93% des vétéran·e·s diplômé·e·s interrogé·e·s trois mois après leur formation avec nous ont déclaré socialiser avec d’autres participant·e·s.
Pour en savoir plus sur nos programmes, écrivez-nous à [email protected].
#jamaisseul #jamaisseule #souvenir
Isabel Gibson retweeted
When Louis St Laurent started providing federal funds to universities, Duplessis refused the funds as an unconstitutional intrusion on provincial jurisdiction. A young Pierre Trudeau agreed, writing at the time that “if a government has at its disposal such a surplus of funds that it can undertake to support a part of the common good that does not lie within its jurisdiction, one may suspect that this government controls more than its share of taxation.”
Now a separatist premier is asking for more federal funding within provincial jurisdiction. The cynicism is something.
When the fathers of confederation delineated the division of powers, figures like Alexander Galt envisioned the provinces exercising full autonomy in their exclusive jurisdiction.
They’d be surprised (and disappointed) by how easily provincial premiers have acquiesced to federal intrusion via the spending power. The idea that a separatist premier would demand more federal funding and in turn necessarily greater federal control over his health policy decisions just takes it to an absurd extreme.
The biggest threat to a federalism of watertight compartments is still centralizing federal politicians like Justin Trudeau. But the second biggest (and comparatively underrated) threat is provincial politicians who won’t selfishly protect their own exclusivity.
Isabel Gibson retweeted
"She's probably not gonna throw it that hard." - Brad Gushue
"Hold my broom." - Rachel Homan (probably)
📺: Sportsnet watch.sportsnet.ca (🍁) | ESPN+ watch.espn.com (🇺🇸) | Rock Channel watch.rockchannel.com / DAZN DAZN.com (🌎)
Isabel Gibson retweeted
Richard is raising an economic question Canadians should have been asking years ago: Who benefits from mass immigration, who bears the costs, and what incentives are we creating?
Economics teaches us to look beyond political intentions and examine actual consequences.
When governments rapidly expand the labour supply without corresponding investment in housing, infrastructure and productive capital, the costs and benefits are not distributed equally.
Employers gain access to a larger pool of workers. Property owners benefit from stronger housing demand. Meanwhile, young Canadians, renters and lower-income workers face greater competition for jobs and housing.
That doesn’t mean immigration is inherently harmful. Skilled immigrants, entrepreneurs and productive workers contribute enormously to Canada. The issue is the scale, composition and economic capacity to absorb newcomers.
We spent years celebrating GDP growth while neglecting GDP per capita.
A bigger economy means very little if the average Canadian isn’t becoming more prosperous.
There is another problem economists have warned about for generations: incentives.
When employers can consistently access inexpensive labour, some have less incentive to increase wages, invest in equipment, train employees or improve productivity.
Cheap labour can become a substitute for innovation.
And when governments rely on population growth to generate economic activity, they can postpone the difficult structural reforms required to improve living standards.
The consequences fall disproportionately on those with the least bargaining power.
The Bank of Canada’s research supports concerns about the changing composition of temporary immigration and its effect on aggregate wages. Its housing research also identifies the pressure rapid population growth places on an already constrained housing market.
This is where I believe Canadian immigration policy went badly wrong.
We confused population growth with economic progress, labour availability with productivity, and rising aggregate GDP with rising prosperity.
Now we’re discussing increasing immigration again before demonstrating that we’ve corrected the underlying problems.
My position is straightforward:
Immigration should serve Canada’s long-term economic interests, respect our capacity to accommodate newcomers and improve living standards for the people already here, including earlier immigrants.
Measure success through real wages, productivity, GDP per capita, housing affordability and private investment.
Not simply the number of people arriving.
Because the purpose of economic policy should be improving people’s lives, not making the numbers on a GDP spreadsheet look bigger.
Prosperity is something you produce, not something you import by increasing the population.
