Canadians are repeatedly being told by our politicians in Ottawa that Canada’s economy is strong, that we are leading the G-7 nations. François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s finance minister, gushed to a Liberal Party audience last weekend, “… the prime minister mentioned that this country would meet the moment. That we would move at a speed and scale not seen in generations… that’s exactly what we have done. We’re building the country like never before. I hope you feel it in your heart. I hope you feel it in your communities. I hope you feel it in every part of the country.”
One must wonder whether minister Champagne was caught up in the moment, or was gaslighting Canadians, or if the Liberals are actually believing their talking points. Let’s consider recent economic news, and commentary from outside of Ottawa.
On Monday CBC News reported “The gap between richest and poorest Canadians widened again in 2025.” The latest Statistics Canada data showed that the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent and those in the bottom 40 per cent reached 46.7 percentage points. The data also showed that wealth between the top 20 per cent and bottom 40 per cent of households widened and today that income inequality is at its highest level in a generation. CBC News quoted Grant Bazian, president of MNP Ltd., “Many Canadians are not just feeling financial pressure, they are navigating an environment that continues to shift, increasing uncertainty and making it more difficult to plan, budget, and stay ahead financially.”
This week the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) published a report with data that revealed more businesses across the country have been closing than opening – for the past six consecutive quarters. CFIB claimed that Canada is in an “entrepreneurial drought” and, today, more than half of small business owners (55 per cent) would recommend against starting a business right now. The hurdles to success include “high costs, red tape, labour challenges, and never-ending uncertainty.” CFIB spokesperson Michelle Auger stated, “Small business priorities should be government priorities. That means reducing taxes, cutting red tape, and promoting investment and entrepreneurship across the country.”
The country’s manufacturing sector has experienced steady declines since the pandemic, with output falling 9.3 per cent according to StatsCan. A Fraser Institute report concludes: “Trump’s tariffs cannot be blamed for all our manufacturing losses since March 2022. More than half of the drop preceded Trump taking office (down $10.7 billion before January 2025 versus $9.4 billion after). Canada’s manufacturing sector has been suffering for years from a loss of competitiveness and faltering innovation due to our government’s misguided policies. These are epitomized by extravagant federal and provincial government subsidies for investments in electric vehicle, battery and high-tech manufacturing.”
Last week the Fraser Institute also released new comparative data showing Ontarians have a lower standard of living than residents in neighbouring U.S. states. The province has become an economic laggard in the region. Since 2001, GDP has increased by 22.5 per cent regionally while Ontario’s economy has only grown 12.7 per cent. The report states, “Ontario’s lower overall level of economic production and its weak growth have translated into less job creation, slower wage growth, and more pressure on public finances than would be the case in the presence of more robust growth.”
Better Dwelling news editors made important observations on new StatsCan data that showed Canadians who are of prime working age are leaving the country in record numbers. “It wasn’t just a pandemic blip—more Canadians are leaving the country for good… Workers aged 25 to 49 now account for more than half of Canada’s rising emigration. In 2025, 64,734 people in this age group left, up 3.0 per cent from a year earlier and the largest volume on record.” The editors commented, “Losing these workers is also incredibly problematic. These are mid-career to peak-earnings workers, often in early-family formation years… households making deliberate, long-term relocations. Losses at this stage weaken the labour supply, erode income and municipal tax bases, and thin the domestic talent pool.”
Coastal Front, a popular independent news source from B.C., interviewed Niels Veldhuis, president of the Fraser Institute, on a podcast, “Is Canada Worth Saving?” It was a wide-ranging conversation and in one exchange Veldhuis made the point of debunking the government’s claim that American tariffs are the root cause of Canada’s economic decline. He stated, “I want to be really clear that while Donald Trump’s tariffs have had a really negative impact on our economy, there are businesses that are trying to get around that by perhaps considering relocation. The problem we have in Canada goes well beyond that. We’re talking about a ten year, a decade long problem where we have had a massive flow of capital out of our country – like $400 billion over ten years. That’s not a Donald Trump tariff problem; that’s a Canada problem. That’s self-inflicted wounds by our country because we have scared capital away from our country. On a per-worker basis in Canada, if you think about business investment per worker – that’s how we are going to be more productive – that’s down 25 per cent in Canada over the last 10 years. In almost every other advanced country it has increased, up 20 per cent in the U.S. and up 20 per cent in other developed countries on average. So, we’re an outlier because we are scaring away capital… If there is anything that has been really negative in the last ten years, it is that we have become known as a country where it is really hard, if not impossible, to get things done.”
The Royal Bank of Canada made headlines this week with a report, “Capital Gains: How Canada can unlock the $1.8 trillion it needs for growth.” The RBC data told the story of a decade of weak business investment, stalling productivity, and stagnating living standards. It reported that “Between 2015 and 2024, more than $1 trillion of investment exited Canada—the largest capital exodus in Canadian history. For every dollar of inward FDI, two dollars exited.” Jordan Brennan, managing director at RBC Thought Leadership, observed, “The imbalance was what was striking. We’re exporting capital at scale at the same time that Canada is ranking dead last in the G7 when it comes to capital investment. Our investment in machinery, equipment and IP is half the United States’ level… We have missed the last 10 years. We missed that wave of investment and so it’s really on us now to change the playbook.”
Gwyn Morgan, retired Canadian oil executive, wrote a recent Juno News column, “New zero is collapsing -why is Canada still clinging to it?” He criticized the fact that the government is stuck with its net zero policies when the rest of the world is moving on. Morgan writes, “The consequences are visible everywhere. Even in places once held up as models of green transition, governments are quietly reversing course. The recent collapse of energy supply in Cuba – where electricity shortages have become widespread – offers a stark illustration of what happens when energy systems fail to meet basic demand. Net zero, when it actually arrives, is a lot less pleasant than promised. Yet Canada continues to pursue policies that ignore these realities.” This opinion of the Liberals’ net zero regime is substantiated by recent data compiled by University of Guelph Professor Ross McKitrick, who published his findings on the carbon tax in the Financial Post: “$170 per tonne industrial carbon tax by 2030—currently Ottawa’s plan—will cost Canadian workers $1,160 in reduced income and result in 50,000 fewer jobs.”
In advance of the government’s budget deliberations, CFIB published the study “Breaking the Deficit Spending Cycle: Small Business Owners Calling for Fiscal Responsibility.” This study concludes the government’s “debt binge and soaring deficits” is putting Canada’s economic future at risk. CFIB appealed to Ottawa: “With the projected federal deficit to hit $78 billion in 2025/2026 and no clear plan to return to a balanced budget, small businesses are calling on Ottawa to get its fiscal house in order in the upcoming spring economic update.” Jasmin Guenette, CFIB vice-president stated, “Government is treating public funds like a limitless resource it can tap into without any consequences. Small business owners are tired of watching federal spending spiral out of control while being told to brace for impact and absorb costs at every turn. It’s unsustainable… The government needs to get its spending under control and fix the business environment.”
Jake Fuss, director at Fraser Institute, made this suggestion in a recent editorial, “The current policy approach in Ottawa and many provinces will likely produce more of the same of what we’ve seen over the last decade. Anemic growth, limited job creation, waning homebuilding, stagnant wages, and limited investment. And young people will remain dejected by their future prospects or lack thereof. That’s not a recipe for success. Instead, governments should return to the successful policies of the Chrétien years in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the federal Liberal government returned to balanced budgets, reduced spending, decreased debt and gradually cut taxes. These policies led to impressive gains in living standards, job creation and private investment. Unfortunately, Canadian policymakers seem to be in a deep state of denial…”
Frank assessments. Outside of Ottawa’s spin and rinse cycle – the repetitive, misleading political rhetoric and legacy media’s regurgitation of government talking points – there are serious discussions taking place in our country about disturbing financial data, economic trend lines, and what is happening on main street and around Canadians’ kitchen tables.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
