The major challenge for the federal government in the budget was to maintain its commitment to progressive social and economic policies in the face of criticism from the right for its supposedly profligate fiscal policies and unwise promises to make the tax system more progressive. The government was also urged to trim its sails in the face of pending tax cuts in the United States.

OTTAWA — The country’s most active right-leaning charities reported zero “political” activity in 2014 while engaging in work that appears to meet the Canada Revenue Agency’s own definition, a new Broadbent Institute survey has found. This raises fresh questions about how conservative-oriented charities are interpreting CRA’s definition of “political” activity and the agency’s political-activity auditing program.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's economic record since taking office in 2006  is at the centre of debate in the current federal election campaign. Arguably his signature achievement is to have radically reduced the fiscal capacity of the federal government, and with it, the broader role of government in advancing the economic and social welfare of Canadians.