Joe Oliver wants to lower taxpayer exposure to the housing market — but there’s no specific plan to do it

  TORONTO — Finance Minister Joe Oliver says Ottawa won’t be making any protective moves in Canada’s housing market. At a news conference Thursday, Oliver says the government’s long term aim is to gradually reduce taxpayer exposure to the residential real estate market, but there is no specific plan. Oliver’s predecessor, Jim Flaherty, moved four […]

Flaherty welcomes fiscal cliff deal, but warns U.S. not yet out of the woods

OTTAWA – Canada welcomed Washington’s last-minute deal on the fiscal cliff on Wednesday, but warned that significant risks remained and urged more action to put the U.S. fiscal situation on a sustainable path. “Canada welcomes the agreement reached between the (U.S. President Barack Obama) and the Congress that protects the U.S. economy in the short […]

How the budget will morph into an election platform

BRIAN MILNER Globe and Mail Blog After sifting through Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s latest keep-the-opposition-from-voting-us-out budget, I’m sorely tempted to adopt the analytical approach of Carl Weinberg, the estimable chief economy watcher for High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y. The budget does not merit analysis, because there’s going to be an election anyway, he told […]