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Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake, Penhold all grew in population last year while Red Deer declined.

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Penhold has a population of 3,277. It takes the same time for the residents of Penhold to get to Hunting Hills High School in Red Deer or the Collicutt Center as the residents in the Kentwood subdivision in Red Deer. It will be quicker for the Penhold residents to get to the Collicutt Centre than any residents planned for north of 11a.
The population of Penhold is 10% of the population north of the river in Red Deer, now and will be only about 6% after developing the land north of 11A. Yet there is not a high school or a secondary school now or being planned for north of the river.
Let us look at Penhold, with 10% of the population and possibly easier access to Red Deer High Schools and the Collicutt Centre built.
For starters they worked with various groups and built Penhold Crossing Secondary School and the Penhold Multiplex combination.
Our beautiful new school in Penhold is a unique ‘P3’ partnership with the Province of Alberta, the Town of Penhold, and Chinook’s Edge. It is adjacent to the Penhold Multiplex, which provides the school community with access to the newly constructed arena, gym and community library. We are a grade 6 – 12 school, which has been growing substantially each year.
The Penhold Multiplex is a diverse facility located in Penhold at 1 Waskasoo Avenue.
Serving all of central Alberta, the facility boasts:
• An exceptional NHL size ice surface
• Meeting rooms
• A fitness center
• Running track
• Dance studio
• Concession
• Lounge
• Library
• Town administration offices
Penhold has a population of 3,277, they planned ahead, they acquired more needed land and they grew last year, while Red Deer shrank.
Blackfalds grew after developing the Abbey Centre, which like Penhold was not built downtown. Sylvan Lake invested in the Nexsource Centre-multiplex. Blackfalds gained 700 new residents last year, Sylvan lake gained 632 last year, Penhold gained 491 new residents while Red Deer lost 975 residents. 777 of those who moved out of Red Deer lived north of the river.
All these communities are less than half of the population of Red Deer, north of the river, with Penhold at 10%, being the smallest. They are all growth communities.
Why then, can’t the city, the province and the school boards address this deficiency.
A proposal that I have been suggesting for years now, is develop Hazlett Lake. Not only would it address these issues it would encourage tourism, help the less fortunate, combat juvenile delinquencies, encourage growth, and the stature of the city.
Hazlett Lake is up for development now, and I worry that the city will chop it up, industrialize it, or completely ignore it’s potential. Highly visible from Hwy 2 and Hwy 11A, it would draw tourism. Lethbridge built Henderson Lake Park around a man-made slough and they are the 5th fastest growing city in Canada.

Build a Collicutt Centre type complex with a 51m pool, a Penhold Multiplex with a library and a secondary school, with a 51m pool competition pool. Incorporate the lake for swimming, boating, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, photography or sun tanning on a beach like Lethbridge does.
Lethbridge, Penhold, Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake must have done something right because they all grew last year while Red Deer shrank. There must be something we learn from this?

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The Strange Case of the Disappearing Public Accounts Report

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The Audit

 

 David Clinton

A few days ago, Public Services and Procurement Canada tabled their audited consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada for 2024. This is the official and complete report on the state of government finances. When I say “complete”, I mean the report’s half million words stretch across three volumes and total more than 1,300 pages.

Together, these volumes provide the most comprehensive and authoritative view of the federal government’s financial management and accountability for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. The tragedy is that no one has the time and energy needed to read and properly understand all that data. But the report identifies problems serious enough to deserve the attention of all Canadians – and especially policy makers.

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Following the approach of my Parliamentary Briefings series, I uploaded all three volumes of the report to my AI research assistant and asked for its thoughts. Each one of the observations that came out the other end is significant and, in calmer and more rational times, could easily have driven a week’s worth of news coverage. But given the craziness of the past few weeks and months, they’re being largely ignored.

With that in mind, I’ve made this special edition of the Parliamentary Briefings series fully accessible to all subscribers.

We begin with a summary of the purpose and scope of the three uploaded volumes of the Public Accounts of Canada for 2023–2024:


Volume I: Summary Report and Consolidated Financial Statements

  • Purpose: Provides a high-level overview of the federal government’s financial performance, presenting the consolidated financial statements audited by the Auditor General. It serves as the primary accountability report.
  • Scope:
    • Audited financial statements.
    • Analysis of revenues, expenses, and the accumulated deficit.
    • Overview of assets, liabilities, and financial position.
    • Discussion of economic context, risks, uncertainties, and ten-year comparative financial data​​.

Volume II: Details of Expenses and Revenues

  • Purpose: Presents the financial operations of the government, broken down by ministries and agencies, for detailed accountability.
  • Scope:
    • Financial transactions segregated by ministry.
    • Details of appropriations, revenues, and transfer payments.
    • Summary tables on ministerial expenditures by type, object, and other dimensions.
    • Appendices providing additional details on budgetary authorities and their sources​.

Volume III: Additional Information and Analyses

  • Purpose: Offers supplementary analyses and financial data beyond what is included in the first two volumes, focusing on revolving funds, professional services, and shared-cost programs.
  • Scope:
    • Financial statements of revolving funds (e.g., Passport Canada, Canadian Grain Commission).
    • Expenditure details on acquisitions, transfer payments, and public debt charges.
    • Analyses of federal-provincial shared-cost programs and claims against the Crown.
    • Miscellaneous financial and operational data for broader transparency​.

The Audit: Based on these documents, could you identify the most serious threats to Canada’s economic stability?


From the Public Accounts of Canada 2023–2024, several serious threats to Canada’s economic security can be identified. These threats emerge from the broader fiscal and economic analyses, contingent liabilities, and uncertainties highlighted in the documents.

1. Growing Public Debt and Debt Servicing Costs

  • Observation: Canada’s public debt charges increased significantly in 2024, rising by 35.2% year-over-year, largely due to higher interest rates on debt. The total accumulated federal debt stood at $1.24 trillion, representing 42.1% of GDP, up from 41.1% the previous year​.
  • Risk: Rising debt servicing costs reduce fiscal space for critical public investments, making the economy vulnerable to future economic shocks or downturns.

2. Contingent Liabilities and Indigenous Claims

  • Observation: The government recorded $16.4 billion in contingent liabilities related to Indigenous claims in 2024, reflecting ongoing efforts to address past injustices. These liabilities have been increasing at an average annual growth rate of 30% since 2016​.
  • Risk: The unpredictable nature and scale of these liabilities could create significant financial pressures if settlements or court decisions require substantial payouts.

3. Legacy Costs from the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Observation: The government recorded $4.7 billion in pandemic-related expenses for 2024, including write-offs for expired vaccines and provisions for unrecovered loans and benefits​​.
  • Risk: These costs highlight vulnerabilities in emergency financial planning and expose the government to further financial risks if similar large-scale public health crises occur.

4. Economic Pressures from High Inflation and Interest Rates

  • Observation: Inflation returned to the Bank of Canada’s 2% target by mid-2024 after 41 consecutive months above this threshold. However, elevated interest rates (peaking at 5%) contributed to a softening economy​​.
  • Risk: Prolonged periods of high interest rates could suppress household and business spending, slowing economic growth and increasing the likelihood of a recession.

5. Climate Change and Environmental Commitments

  • Observation: Significant spending is allocated to addressing climate change, with over $1 billion dedicated to environmental programs in 2024, including pollution pricing proceeds and clean energy initiatives​​.
  • Risk: Canada’s reliance on resource-intensive industries and increasing costs to meet climate targets create economic vulnerabilities, particularly in regions heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

6. Global Economic Instability

  • Observation: Global supply chain disruptions, energy price volatility, and geopolitical events (e.g., Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) significantly impacted Canada’s economy, with slower GDP growth (1.5% in 2023) and reduced trade​.
  • Risk: External shocks could exacerbate domestic economic challenges, such as rising import costs or reduced demand for Canadian exports.

7. Labor Market and Productivity Challenges

  • Observation: While job creation remained positive, population growth outpaced employment gains, leading to an increase in the unemployment rate to 6.5% by October 2024. Productivity improvements have been uneven​.
  • Risk: Labor shortages in key sectors and declining workforce participation among certain demographics (e.g., aging population) could undermine economic resilience.

8. Dependence on Resource Revenues

  • Observation: Volatile global commodity prices impacted nominal GDP growth, with gains slowing to 2.9% in 2023 after double-digit growth in prior years​.
  • Risk: Fluctuations in resource revenues leave Canada exposed to external shocks, particularly in provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan, heavily reliant on oil and gas.

These challenges underscore the need for proactive fiscal and policy measures to safeguard economic stability, manage liabilities, and address emerging risks.


The Audit: What would you recommend as the three most urgent areas to address to avoid deepening the economic crisis?


1. Manage Rising Public Debt and Debt Servicing Costs

  • Why It’s Urgent: The rapid increase in public debt charges (35.2% in 2024) is crowding out fiscal space for essential programs. The federal debt, at 42.1% of GDP, has become a significant liability, with interest rate fluctuations posing an ongoing threat​​.
  • Recommendations:
    • Introduce stricter fiscal discipline by prioritizing expenditures that yield long-term economic benefits (e.g., infrastructure, innovation).
    • Develop a comprehensive debt reduction strategy to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio in the medium term.
    • Explore debt refinancing strategies to lock in lower interest rates where feasible.
  • Impact: Reducing debt servicing pressures will free up resources for critical investments and improve Canada’s fiscal resilience.

2. Mitigate the Economic Impact of Contingent Liabilities

  • Why It’s Urgent: Contingent liabilities related to Indigenous claims have grown exponentially (30% annually since 2016), creating fiscal unpredictability and potentially overwhelming future budgets​.
  • Recommendations:
    • Accelerate settlement negotiations to limit litigation costs and interest on outstanding claims.
    • Establish a transparent reserve fund specifically for contingent liabilities, ensuring predictable future payouts.
    • Increase collaboration with Indigenous communities to address systemic issues and prevent further claims.
  • Impact: Resolving liabilities promptly will reduce fiscal uncertainty and demonstrate Canada’s commitment to reconciliation.

3. Address Structural Labor Market and Productivity Challenges

  • Why It’s Urgent: Despite job creation, rising unemployment (6.5% in late 2024) and productivity stagnation threaten long-term economic growth. Labor shortages in critical sectors further exacerbate vulnerabilities​.
  • Recommendations:
    • Expand skilled immigration programs to address labor shortages in healthcare, technology, and green industries.
    • Increase investment in workforce retraining programs, particularly for sectors undergoing automation or transition due to climate policies.
    • Promote workplace flexibility and childcare access to increase labor force participation, particularly among women and aging workers.
  • Impact: Enhancing workforce productivity and participation will strengthen the economic foundation and support GDP growth.

Rationale for Prioritization

These areas represent the most immediate threats to economic security and fiscal stability. Addressing them proactively can reduce vulnerabilities and position Canada for sustainable growth.


The Audit: What are the most surprising and disturbing details in these documents?


1. Rapid Growth of Public Debt Charges

  • Detail: Public debt charges increased by 35.2% year-over-year to $47.3 billion, representing one of the fastest-growing expense categories. This reflects a combination of higher interest rates and the significant size of Canada’s debt​​.
  • Why Disturbing: Such a rapid increase in debt servicing costs could divert funds from essential public services and programs. It also signals limited fiscal flexibility in the event of future economic shocks.

2. Ballooning Contingent Liabilities

  • Detail: The federal government recorded $16.4 billion in expenses for Indigenous contingent liabilities in 2024. This is part of an ongoing surge, with liabilities increasing by 30% annually since 2016​​.
  • Why Disturbing: While reconciliation efforts are vital, the sheer scale and rapid growth of these liabilities are fiscally unsustainable without structural changes or dedicated funding mechanisms. The risk of further liabilities emerging adds to fiscal uncertainty.

3. Significant Write-offs and Provisions for Pandemic Programs

  • Detail: The government wrote off $1.2 billion in expired COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics and recorded $3.5 billion in provisions for unrecovered pandemic-era loans​​.
  • Why Disturbing: These figures highlight inefficiencies in planning and administration during the pandemic response, leading to substantial financial losses. The scale of unrecovered funds also raises questions about accountability in the deployment of emergency programs.

4. Rising Unemployment Despite Job Creation

  • Detail: While 475,000 jobs were created in 2023, the unemployment rate rose to 6.5% by late 2024 due to population growth outpacing employment gains​​.
  • Why Surprising: Despite strong job creation, an inability to keep pace with population growth signals structural issues in labor force integration. This poses a risk to Canada’s economic competitiveness and social cohesion.

5. Declining Corporate Income Tax Revenues

  • Detail: Corporate income tax revenues decreased by 0.7%, driven by reduced taxable income despite an overall increase in total revenues​.
  • Why Surprising: The decline in corporate tax revenues during a period of economic recovery raises concerns about potential tax avoidance, economic inequality, or over-reliance on other revenue streams, such as personal income taxes.

6. Substantial Environmental and Climate Spending

  • Detail: Over $1 billion was allocated to environmental programs, including pollution pricing proceeds. However, the documents note Canada’s slow progress toward net-zero targets and risks to resource-dependent provinces​​.
  • Why Disturbing: While necessary, this spending may be insufficient given the scale of the climate challenge. The mismatch between spending and measurable progress on climate goals risks long-term environmental and economic consequences.

7. Unanticipated Costs of Indigenous Reconciliation

  • Detail: Beyond contingent liabilities, the government is facing unpredictable settlement costs due to increasing litigation and the complexity of claims. These have already exceeded $60 billion since 2016​​.
  • Why Disturbing: The ongoing financial impact of these settlements reflects Canada’s historical neglect of Indigenous issues. Resolving these claims is essential, but the lack of predictability or dedicated funding highlights systemic shortcomings in reconciliation strategies.

8. Softened GDP Growth and Inflation Challenges

  • Detail: Real GDP growth slowed to 1.5% in 2023, and inflation remained high throughout the year, only reaching the Bank of Canada’s 2% target by mid-2024​​.
  • Why Disturbing: The prolonged inflationary period and sluggish growth signal a fragile recovery. These economic conditions could exacerbate income inequality and lead to further fiscal strain.

9. High Provisions for Unrecovered Loans

  • Detail: Provisions of $3.5 billion were recorded for emergency loans provided during the pandemic. The government continues to face difficulties in recovering these funds​.
  • Why Disturbing: This provision raises serious questions about the efficiency of loan administration and the government’s ability to safeguard public funds during emergencies.

10. Heavy Dependence on Volatile Resource Revenues

  • Detail: Nominal GDP growth slowed to 2.9% in 2023, largely due to easing commodity prices after a surge in 2022. Resource dependence remains a key economic vulnerability​.
  • Why Surprising: Despite global shifts toward renewable energy, Canada’s reliance on resource revenues remains high, posing long-term risks to economic diversification and stability.

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Energy

Guilbeault’s Emissions Obsession: Ten Reasons to Call Time Out on Canada’s CO2 Crusade

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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Pierre Gilbert

Before we collectively devastate our economies, further reduce our birth rates in a misguided attempt to save the planet, squander trillions of dollars, and halt human progress by making energy both scarce and exorbitantly expensive, it’s crucial to remember that human-induced climate change is not a settled fact, but rather a hypothesis largely unsupported by the history of the climate but supported by climate models that have considerable error built into them.

Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault recently announced a plan requiring the oil and gas industry to cut CO2 emissions by more than one-third from 2019 levels by 2030. This deadline might seem far off, but it also stipulates that at least 20 percent of light-duty vehicle sales must be zero-emission by 2026, a deadline that’s just around the corner. This is all part of Guilbeault’s strategy to achieve the ambitious net-zero emissions target by 2050.

There are at least ten reasons suggesting that this plan is absurd.

  1. CO2 is Not a Pollutant.

Carbon dioxide is, in fact, a fertilizer crucial for the growth of all vegetation. Higher concentrations of CO2 result in increased crop yields and more productive forests. Healthier forests, in turn, absorb more CO2, providing oxygen in exchange which is essential for the survival of all living organisms including humans.

  1. CO2 is a Trace Gas

During my extensive career as a university professor, I encountered numerous students eager to support policies that might devastate the livelihoods of thousands of men and women who depend on the oil and gas industry, believing these sacrifices would save the planet. Their near-religious zeal was only matched by their stunning ignorance of basic CO2 facts.

Class surveys I conducted showed that almost one hundred percent of my students were unaware that CO2 is a trace gas, with its atmospheric concentration having varied significantly over centuries and even seasonally. Currently, CO2 represents about 0.04% of the atmospheric gases, or approximately 420 parts per million (ppm). By comparison, nitrogen makes up about 78%, and oxygen around 21%.

The best estimates suggest that human activities contribute roughly 4% of the total annual CO2 emissions (16 ppm). Canada’s share of global emissions is approximately 1.5% (0.24 ppm), essentially a rounding error in the total calculation.

  1. Why Alberta and Not China?

It is no secret that Guilbeault harbours a special animosity towards Alberta. His energy regulations appear designed to severely impact Alberta’s economy despite the province being a relatively minor player on the global stage. In contrast, China, by far the largest contributor to global CO2 emissions, builds two new coal-powered (dirty) power plants every week and is the primary beneficiary of Canada’s coal exports. Why doesn’t Guilbeault turn his scornful gaze towards the People’s Republic? Even during his visit to China in August 2023 for climate talks, not only did he overlook that country’s appalling environmental track record, to add insult to injury, while there he critiqued Suncor for recommitting to oil sands development, highlighting a troubling policy double standard.

  1. Watch What They Do, not What They Say

The economic and cultural elites, who incessantly warn of an impending climate catastrophe, seem to contradict their own claims by their extravagant lifestyles. Their opulent residences, frequent use of private jets, and other extravagances reveal a significant disconnect between their rhetoric and their behaviour, suggesting either hypocrisy or a lack of belief in the very crisis they promote.

  1. Magical Thinking

When they purport to compel the oil and gas industry to adopt new technologies, politicians and policymakers indulge in a particularly delusional form of magical thinking. First, the industry is already one of the most innovative sectors in the economy. Second, these individuals demonstrate a profound ignorance of both climate change and the complex challenges of energy production. As is typical of low-information politicians, they seem to believe that all they need to do to enact change in line with their utopian ideals is to snap their fingers or twitch their collective nose.

  1. A Multiplier of Human Misery

All the regulations that politicians like Guilbeault introduce with a regularity that rivals the proverbial cuckoo clock have nothing to do with creating new sources of energy or making energy more accessible and affordable. If they were genuinely concerned about their constituents’ welfare, these politicians would incentivize nuclear energy. But they conspicuously do not. These incessant regulations, taxes, and oppressive energy policies serve one purpose: to inflate energy prices so high that middle-class individuals are forced to drive less, reduce their energy use for heating and cooling their homes, and drastically curbing manufacturing. To the extent that such policies persist, they will impose an increasingly devastating economic burden on the poor and the working class.

  1. Extreme Weather Events

A radical reduction in CO2 emissions will not only lead to a weaker economy and increased poverty, but it will also diminish our capacity to respond to extreme weather conditions, which will occur regardless of the taxation governments impose on human activities.

  1. The Used-Car Salesman Syndrome

You know you’re being conned when a used car salesperson fails to mention the downsides of the vehicle being considered. The same skepticism and caution should be applied to politicians who tout only the benefits of their proposed policies without discussing the costs. Either they are blissfully unaware of these costs, or they believe they will be insulated from the real-world repercussions of their harmful policies due to their status, wealth, or connections.

  1. Anti-Human Perspective

While it’s unwise to gratuitously attribute malicious intent to anyone, the evidence suggests that proponents of radical climate change policies operate from what can only be described as an anti-human perspective. They view human beings as liabilities and parasites rather than, as the Judeo-Christian tradition asserts, the valuable assets they truly are.

  1. A Matter of Debate

Before we collectively devastate our economies, further reduce our birth rates in a misguided attempt to save the planet, squander trillions of dollars, and halt human progress by making energy both scarce and exorbitantly expensive, it’s crucial to remember that human-induced climate change is not a settled fact, but rather a hypothesis largely unsupported by the history of the climate but supported by climate models that have considerable error built into them.

In conclusion, Bjorn Lomborg, the Danish political scientist and founder of the prestigious Copenhagen Consensus Center—an organization renowned for producing some of the most authoritative studies on environmental issues—wisely reminds us that while there are environmental concerns needing attention, it’s questionable whether climate change constitutes an existential crisis that warrants dedicating all our resources at the expense of human life and flourishing.

Pierre Gilbert is Associate Professor Emeritus at Canadian Mennonite University. He writes here for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

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