Business
Mark Carney’s fiscal plan: a marketing exercise to mask spending

From the Fraser Institute
By Jake Fuss
Mark Carney is a leading contender to be the next Liberal party leader and Canada’s next prime minister. New details about his fiscal policy plan show a potential improvement from the Trudeau era, but the approach falls well short of what Canada needs.
Over the last decade, the Trudeau government has dramatically increased the size and role of the federal government in the economy, with the six highest years of per-person (inflation-adjusted) spending in Canadian history (2018 to 2023). To finance this spending explosion, the Trudeau government has raised taxes and borrowed a projected $1.1-trillion. If Mr. Carney wins the Liberal party leadership, he said his government would review program spending and cap the size of the federal workforce, which has grown by more than 40 per cent during Mr. Trudeau’s tenure. These are steps in the right direction. But crucially, Mr. Carney also plans to split the federal budget in two and create an operating budget and capital budget. By dividing operating and capital spending, Mr. Carney proposes a less transparent and less understandable budget. He’ll make it significantly more difficult for Canadians to track their tax dollars and evaluate the state of federal finances.
Specifically, according to Mr. Carney, he’ll run a “small deficit” in his newly formed capital budget that includes long-term spending on military equipment, clean energy, infrastructure and housing. (In other words, he’ll continue to rack up debt and fuel debt interest costs, which will reach a projected $53.7-billion in 2024/25.) And he says he’ll balance the new operating budget – which will include bureaucrat salaries, cash transfers to provinces and federal benefits (e.g. Old Age Security) – within three years. But there’s a problem: Mr. Carney’s math doesn’t add up. He plans to keep Trudeau’s national $10-a-day daycare and dental care programs. He’ll cap growth in the federal bureaucracy but won’t reduce its size. He won’t touch benefits such as employment insurance or Old Age Security or reduce cash transfers to provinces. And he’ll increase defence spending. With all these carve-outs for existing spending, it’s very difficult to see how a Carney government would balance the operating budget in three years.
To achieve this goal, he’ll be tempted to recategorize some operating expenses as capital expenses. For example, to meet NATO’s spending target of 2 per cent of GDP, Mr. Carney could (inaccurately) categorize some defence spending as capital spending. Consequently, Mr. Carney’s “small” capital deficits would quickly turn into large deficits. This would also be reminiscent of Mr. Trudeau’s promise in 2015 for three years of “modest deficits” before he abandoned that pledge almost immediately after his election. The end result would be the same – more deficits and more debt.
On the positive side, Mr. Carney has promised to cut middle-class taxes and scrap Mr. Trudeau’s proposed tax hike on capital gains. These moves would leave more money in the pockets of Canadians. Yet his tax reform plan also doesn’t go nearly far enough. Canada would still be markedly uncompetitive compared to peer countries on personal income taxes, and middle of the pack for taxes on businesses and capital gains. Mr. Carney should instead take a page out of Jean Chrétien’s playbook and reduce taxes more broadly to improve incentives for entrepreneurship, investment and job creation.
Mark Carney’s fiscal plan may represent a potential improvement from the Trudeau years, which featured record-high levels of spending and debt accumulation. But there are serious risks to his approach, which include an accounting change that may simply move red ink from one budget to another. Canada needs broad-based tax reductions and federal budgets that are truly balanced.
Agriculture
USDA reveals plan to combat surging egg prices

MxM News
Quick Hit:
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has unveiled the Trump administration’s plan to tackle surging egg prices, focusing on chicken repopulation and biosecurity measures while rejecting mandatory vaccines for poultry. The move aims to counter the economic impact of mass culling under the Biden administration’s failed policies.
Key Details:
- The USDA’s $1 billion plan includes biosecurity enhancements, rapid chicken repopulation, deregulation, and increased egg imports.
- Rollins ruled out mandating avian flu vaccines after research showed inefficacy in countries like Mexico.
- The administration is prioritizing securing farms against virus transmission while working on long-term solutions to stabilize egg prices.
Diving Deeper:
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, detailed the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to reducing skyrocketing egg prices, which she attributed to policy failures under former President Joe Biden. Rollins made it clear that President Donald Trump’s administration is focusing on restoring the poultry industry through chicken repopulation, strengthening biosecurity at farms, and removing unnecessary regulations that have stifled industry growth.
Rollins criticized Biden-era policies, noting that while the previous administration recognized the risks of avian flu, it failed to act decisively. “This has been going on now for two years. So it isn’t just regulation and all of the cost input increases and overregulation from the Biden administration, but it’s also not completely addressing the avian bird flu a couple years ago when it first hit,” she said. Under Biden, approximately 160 million chickens were culled, exacerbating supply shortages and sending prices soaring.
To address the crisis, the USDA’s plan includes five key pillars. First, the administration is investing in farm biosecurity, ensuring facilities are properly sealed to prevent virus transmission from wild fowl. Second, the repopulation of poultry flocks is being expedited by removing regulatory roadblocks. Third, the administration is pushing for deregulation in areas such as processing plant operations and California’s Proposition 12, which Rollins called “devastating” to the industry. Fourth, to alleviate immediate supply issues, the U.S. is negotiating egg imports from Turkey and other nations.
The final component of the plan, initially a proposed vaccine initiative, has been scrapped. Rollins stated that studies showed vaccinated poultry in Mexico still contracted avian flu at an alarming rate, making the approach ineffective. “I pulled that off the table,” she declared, adding that the administration is prioritizing research into alternative therapeutic solutions.
In addition to economic recovery efforts, Rollins praised President Trump’s recent address to Congress, highlighting his focus on American farmers and families. She also condemned congressional Democrats for their lack of support for crime victims’ families honored during the speech. “It is stunning,” Rollins said of their refusal to stand during key moments.
Looking ahead, Rollins reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to American farmers, emphasizing that Trump’s trade strategy is centered on protecting agricultural interests. “He is hyper-focused and passionately involved himself… fighting for our farmers, our ranchers, and entire agriculture community,” she said.
Business
“The insanity is ending”: USDA cancels $600k grant to study transgender men’s menstruation

Quick Hit:
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Friday that the Department of Agriculture has canceled a $600,000 federal grant intended for a study on menstrual cycles in transgender men. Rollins declared the decision part of broader efforts to end what she called “insanity” and restore common sense in government spending.
Key Details:
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The grant description outlined the study’s focus on menstruation, stating that most women experience around 450 menstrual cycles over their lifetime, while also emphasizing that “transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate.”
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Researchers aimed to explore concerns related to menstruation, including the potential use of natural fibers, such as hemp, in feminine hygiene products.
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The American Principles Project, a conservative nonprofit, first identified the study as part of a broader review of more than 340 federally funded grants during the Biden administration, which amounted to over $128 million.
🚨CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study “menstrual cycles in transgender men”
Keep sending us tips. THANK YOU, @approject! The insanity is ending and the restoration of America is underway. 🇺🇸💪❤️ https://t.co/7S53WQ3CP3
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) March 8, 2025
Diving Deeper:
The Department of Agriculture’s decision to revoke the $600,000 grant marks another rollback of Biden-era initiatives under the new administration. The study, awarded to Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College, was originally slated to continue through April 2027, focusing on menstruation-related concerns, including the development of eco-friendly hygiene products.
A description of the study noted that menstruation typically begins around age 12 and continues until menopause, averaging around 450 cycles in a lifetime. The grant documentation also stated that menstruation is not limited to biological women, arguing that transgender men and other gender identities may also experience it.
Rollins took to social media platform X to confirm the cancellation, writing, “CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study ‘menstrual cycles in transgender men.’” She credited the American Principles Project for uncovering the grant and added, “Keep sending us tips. THANK YOU, @approject! The insanity is ending and the restoration of America is underway.”
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