Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Philip Cross is scheduled to appear before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance on Monday to discuss the federal budget.
The testimony is part of the government’s pre-budget consultations for 2014.
Cross will tell the members of the committee that, even though the government is preparing to move into surplus, there are still clouds on the horizon for Canada’s fiscal situation.
He will point to several roadblocks on the road ahead, including fewer of Canada’s best-paid workers paying income tax and the growing cost of the health care system.
Cross will also rely on the MLI report Provincial Solvency and Federal Obligations, which shows that many provincial governments are risking a default if they don’t reduce their spending. That would put an additional strain on the federal government’s finances, since it would feel pressure to assume responsibility for bailing them out.
CPAC will be broadcasting the meeting, which is scheduled to take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., on its website.
