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Kim G C Moody’s Musings – 1-1-1 Newsletter For August 27, 2025
One Comment About Taxation – It’s Time For Canada to Reconsider Having Fixed Budget Release Dates
It has been 497 days since Canada last had a federal budget. That is unacceptable. Budgets are the primary tool by which governments seek Parliament’s approval for taxation and spending. Yet Canadians have been left in the dark, forced to accept funding government by Special Warrants – spending without Parliamentary approval – for much of the early part of 2025. That should concern us all.
And yet, despite this glaring absence, Prime Minister Carney’s extended honeymoon with the public rolls on. Canadians seem remarkably tolerant of a government that has avoided presenting the most basic instrument of fiscal accountability. Instead, Canada should loudly reject this kind of governance.
A budget is not a ceremonial speech or a political talking point – it is the plan. Budgets are financial tools to help guide overall operational plans including revenues, expenditures, cash flow and capital outlays for the upcoming period. Without one, transparency and accountability are undermined. Again, that should trouble us far more than it seems to.
While there are no laws requiring the federal government to present an annual budget, there are longstanding constitutional conventions that make it obligatory.
Since Canada was born in 1867, there has always been an annual full federal budget presented until 2020, the initial COVID-19 year when, shockingly, there was no budget. There were annual budgets presented during the First and Second World Wars, the Great Depression years of 1929 until the 1930s and even with unstable minority governments — such as the Joe Clark government of 1979. Most countries around the world, including developing countries, also have a standard protocol to release an annual budget in advance.
Even when new governments are elected, there have always been budgets presented, often with short but reasonable delays. Having no budget presented in 2020 was out of step. Shortly after getting elected this spring, the new Finance Minister indicated that there would be no budget presented this year, opting instead for a fiscal update in the fall. However, after feeling the heat, PM Carney promised a fall budget.
Do other countries have long-periods of time elapsing between budget releases? No. It is not the norm. Yes, some countries have experienced unusual circumstances that have delayed budgets but it is pretty rare to find experiences of long periods of delay.
And what about the timing of the release of budgets? For Canada, the normal release date has been in the early spring. Why? Well, the federal government’s fiscal year ends on March 31.
Accordingly, it is normal for budgets – whether it is a government, for-profit business or non-profit – to be prepared and released in advance of the next fiscal year. To release a budget after the start of the fiscal year kind of defeats the whole purpose of the tool.
Canada’s release date for its annual budget, however, has been a guessing game over the years. While it’s typically released just before the start of the next fiscal year, like mid-March, it’s also common to be released shortly after as well, like early April. Or if an election falls within that period, very shortly after the election.
Preparing a budget is not an easy task. It involves the hard work of the Department of Finance bureaucrats. Taxation measures need to be carefully crafted, usually by way of draft legislation and often presented by way of a Notice of Ways and Means Motion tabled immediately after presentation. In other words, there often needs to be sufficient time to properly prepare and release budget materials.
In 1985, Finance Minister Michael Wilson released a document entitled “The Canadian Budgetary Process; Proposal For Improvement“. The document was presented as part of the 1985 federal budget. In that document, it proposed fixing an annual date for the release of the budget so as to “lessen the chronic concern, confusion and uncertainty that accompanies “budget guessing” in the financial and business communities, the provinces and among Canadians generally. By imposing a regular cycle of budget planning throughout the year, a fixed date would bring a welcome discipline and orderliness to the budget process.”
The document also analyzed when that fixed date should be. It concluded that “…a fixed date between mid-January and mid-February, while not entirely free of difficulty…would appear to be the optimum timing for an annual budget…”.
Ultimately, the fixed budget date recommendation was not adopted. It’s not entirely clear to me why but in a Westminster system of government where budgets are confidence measures, it has been common for Canadian governments to jealously guard the flexibility to time budget release dates for maximum political advantage even at the cost of transparency, predictability, and orderly fiscal management.
Other advanced economies have long since taken that path. The United States legislated a February deadline for the President’s budget submission. India delivers its Union Budget on February 1 without fail. Australia is anchored to the second Tuesday in May, while the United Kingdom moved its main budget to every autumn. Interestingly, UK, India and Australia also have Westminster systems of government but have traded political convenience for transparency by adopting a form of fixed dates for budgets.
Sir Winston Churchill once said: “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.” Brilliant.
Forty years ago, the federal government made proactive recommendations to improve the Canadian budgetary process. It’s time to look back to that recommendation and reconsider it. While there very well might be reasons to not adopt fixed date budget releases that I have not thought of (other than the obvious political advantages that would be retained by the governing party for not adopting it), there appears to be very compelling reasons to adopt it.
Would fixed dates eliminate or reduce the recent experiences of not having a budget timely released? It can’t hurt. Churchill was right, looking back shows us the discipline we once had. Looking forward, Canadians deserve no less than a government that delivers a budget on time.
Honeymoon or not.
One Comment About Leadership – Leaders “Own It”
Recently, a family member, I’ll call her Sally, took her vehicle to a local Canadian Tire location, after making an appointment, to get an oil change. Sally had tried to do it herself but gave up after struggling to get a protective piece of the vehicle back into place after removing it. At the appointment, Sally asked the manager if they would be able to put the part back on. “No problem,” he said.
A few hours later, the oil change was done but the protective piece was not put back in place as promised. “We ran out of time,” the attendant said. Not knowing what to say in rebuttal, Sally went back home frustrated but didn’t say anything. She was travelling with the vehicle on a long trip, and would have to struggle to get it back into place herself or travel without it.
She decided to call the manager and figure out what happened. The manager was very defensive and was obviously making up stories about why they couldn’t get it done. Sally finally said “I’m not sure why you’re being so defensive. You promised you would do it for me and you didn’t. I’m simply trying to understand why and how I could get this fixed.” The manager was obviously caught off guard and cut the conversation short and said he would look into it.
A few hours later, the manager unexpectedly called back. And started off with a genuine apology. “You’re right”, he said. “I was being defensive. I’m sorry. I looked into the situation and the technician was wrong. And lazy. And let’s just say that the technician won’t be doing that again”. The manager then arranged – because Sally was travelling out of town – to get the part fixed at a Canadian Tire location where she was going.
The above is a first-class lesson of a leader “owning it”. Owning your mistakes – or your team’s mistakes – is a very important leadership attribute. While some will continue to point fingers and blame once the an admission is made, the better people will respect you and the organization tremendously for such admission and the steps taken to make it right or better.
Leaders, own your mistakes. Drop the defensiveness. It shows better.
One Comment About Economics – Return to the Office Mandates Are Finally Becoming The Norm
More and more, companies large and small and governments are requiring their workers to return to the office. One of the most recent is the province of Ontario, which is requiring all of its employees to return to the office for 5 days a week commencing in early January 2026. I applaud that move. And it’s about time.
If you’re a “work from home” fan, I hear your complaints. But I have little sympathy. I’m well aware of all of the supposed benefits of “working from home”. If you’re a serious company – or a government that is supposed to be providing quality public services – providing such services with a team of people that are “working from home” is challenging to say the least. For example, have you tried to call the Canada Revenue Agency in the last few years? If you can get through, you’re often talking to someone from their cell phone with poor quality and often get disconnected. That’s not a great use of our country’s tax dollars.
While some – especially union leaders and those people where remote work is convenient to them – espouse that building culture, mentorship of people and increased production is possible and sometimes better with remote work – I disagree. Finally, some of the literature agrees with me.
But for some companies that have built their businesses with remote workers, a return to the office mandate can be an expensive venture. Or not feasible. In situations like that, developing proactive strategies to deal with culture building, better performance appraisals, more effective meetings, strict rules about showing up, etc. needs to be done. Outside of those situations, it’s my view that the norm should be attendance at the office.
Human beings – and the organizations they build – thrive on relationships. Remote work makes that harder, and the economic cost is real.
It’s my view that organizations of all sizes and shapes need to be very intentional about their remote work policy. Remote work may be convenient, but convenience doesn’t pay the bills. Economies thrive when productivity is maximized, and in most cases, that means people showing up, collaborating, and delivering.
Canada’s productivity is already at alarmingly low levels. De-normalization of “working from home” is a step in the right direction to help improve that.
Bonus Comment – Quote From Yours Truly – Kim G C Moody – About Leaders “Owning It”
“Excuses are cheap. Ownership is priceless.”
Leaders, be sure to “own it”!
Hope you enjoyed this edition of 1-1-1. If you’re not already part of the In the Mood Network, now’s the time. Please sign-up today. Whether it’s through consulting, coaching, speaking, or writing, my work is about planting acorns: deliberate, principled actions that challenge the status quo and grow into something far bigger. The goal? Bold reform. Stronger foundations. And a country that values hard work and common sense.
