The Politics of Money: An IFSD Podcast

Taking Stock of Canada at 159: Strong Fundamentals, Real Pressures At its core, the story of Canada is about a lot more than economics. It’s about values , choices , and long-term fiscal sustainability . Its about outcomes that matter and the kind of future Canadians want to build, together. In this special Canada Day episode of The Politics of Money⁩, the IFSD team take stock of how Canada is rea...

Food insecurity in Canada is rising — new policy responses are needed 👉 About 1 in 4 Canadians are living in food-insecure households, including around 2.5 million children 👉 Food banks are seeing record demand and a growing number of users are working Canadians So what’s going on? Canada’s social safety net is not keeping up, but it was never designed to address food insecurity . In our latest...

Taxation. Perhaps the most hotly debated topic in public life — but one of the hardest to discuss honestly. In this episode of The Politics of Money: An IFSD Podcast , we bring together American and Canadian perspectives to move the discussion beyond slogans and examine the real‑world tradeoffs and consequences. Including how the pursuit of tax competitiveness risks becoming a race to the bottom....

Food insecurity is not just a social issue — it’s an economic, health, and productivity challenge with lasting consequences for Canada. In this special live event hosted by the IFSD —in partnership with the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security and the Office of Research and Public Policy Outreach at the University of Ottawa —leading researchers, economists, and practitioners examine the real cost a...

In our The Politics of Money Fiscal Update Reaction episode , IFSD's Kevin Page , President and CEO , Sahir Khan , Executive VP , and Mostafa Askari , Chief Economist , share their immediate takeaways after spending the day inside the lock up for the government’s spring Economic Update tabled today. They look beyond the headline deficit improvement to assess the credibility of the fiscal framework...

🎙️ CHECKING UNDER THE HOOD | IFSD's Fiscal Update Preview Ahead of the government’s spring Economic and Fiscal Update, The Politics of Money brings together IFSD President and CEO Kevin Page , Executive VP Sahir Khan, and Chief Economist Mostafa Askari , for a timely preview of what they're looking for in the government's plan.  The conversation explores the government’s room to manoeuvre amid glo...

Bonus: Estimates Explained Each year, Parliament is asked to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in public spending through the Main Estimates. And each year, confusion follows about what the Estimates do and don’t mean. What’s new spending? What Departments are being cut and by how much? How do we reconcile the Estimates and the Budget? Why don’t the numbers line up? Kevin Page and Sahir Khan...

What holds a country together when pressures—internal and external—keep rising? In this episode of The Politics of Money, IFSD’s President Kevin Page sits down with Stéphane Dion for a wide‑ranging discussion on the difficult choices facing Canada today.  Drawing on Dion’s experience as a cabinet minister to three prime ministers, ambassador to Europe, and political scientist, the conversation div...

Hosted by Kevin Page and Sahir Khan , IFSD's new podcast examines how money moves through government and how public finance shapes political choices. 🎙️ Smart, fact-based discussions about how decisions are made – and why they matter . The Politics of Money . A trustworthy podcast in uncertain times.   Click here to watch a video of this episode.

The Politics of Money is a new podcast from the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. Each episode the IFSD team and guests will explore how public finance, politics, and institutions shape the world we live in. Our podcast’s mission is to demystify how money moves through government, why it matters, and how decisions made in Ottawa ripple across Canada and beyond. In our first (bonus!) episo...