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Hello,

Bill Morneau wasn’t looking outside when he said it was a “rainy day” in Canada this morning. (Though, where he was speaking in Toronto, there was some precipitation.)

The Finance Minister was describing his government’s approach to budgeting for economic downturns. The Liberals have been running deficits since they were elected in 2015, but say that, because the debt-to-GDP is gently declining, the deficits are reasonable. They also, every year, create multibillion-dollar contingency cushions, to give themselves the freedom to spend more when needed.

“You have a great balance sheet because sometimes there are rainy days,” Mr. Morneau said. And, thinking of the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the global economy, he added: “It’s a rainy day.”

Mr. Morneau indicated the upcoming budget would have an extra-large cushion so that the government had more money available to spend on addressing both the virus and its effect on the economy.

Mr. Morneau did not provide a date for the budget, which is traditionally in March. We’re still waiting for that day.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

The federal government has formally issued its guidelines to telecom companies to drop their prices 25 per cent on mid-tier plans or face regulatory action. The companies, as one would expect, are not pleased.

The Conservative leadership race might actually be a race: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, one of the most influential conservatives in the country, has thrown his support behind Ontario MP Erin O’Toole to be the party’s next leader. The endorsement is a snub of Mr. Kenney’s former cabinet colleague Peter MacKay, who has been the fron-trunner so far.

Mr. Kenney’s government says it will increase its carbon tax on industrial polluters in lockstep with the federal government, though it continues challenging the carbon tax on individuals in court.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has pulled out of funding a multibillion-dollar natural-gas project in Quebec, citing Canada’s political context.

Coastal GasLink has put a figure on the economic benefit it says will be reaped by Wet’suwet’en band councils along the route of a disputed natural-gas pipeline. The company says each of the five bands would receive $4.6-million a year for 25 years, along with some $60-million worth of construction contracts. The hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline say such payments are equivalent to buying support.

The Ontario government has announced a $202-million human-trafficking strategy to keep women and girls out of the sex trade. It’s the most ambitious strategy, so far, to be announced by any level of government in Canada.

And Ontario Liberals pick their new leader this weekend. Former transportation minister Steven Del Duca has a majority of pledged delegates, making his victory quite likely. But one person who has left her mark on the party already is political newcomer Kate Graham, who has tried to push the party out of the GTA and embrace generational change.

Elizabeth Renzetti (The Globe and Mail) on coronavirus’s impact on public institutions: “More information we’ve been getting; better, not so much. In fact, in many jurisdictions where the virus has taken hold, politicians’ attempt to restrict, twist and obfuscate information for political gain has been one of the hallmarks of this outbreak. It’s almost certainly put people’s lives in danger. And it will without doubt deepen the already yawning gap in trust that exists between the governed and those who govern.”

Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on coronavirus’s impact on the economy: “It’s impossible to imagine such a cataclysm not tipping the global economy, already slowing noticeably, into recession – and a recession of a particular kind. The workdays lost to illness, the disruption to global supply chains, prohibitions on transit, the sheer numbers of the dead: All these add up to a sudden, sharp reduction in the economy’s productive capacity, much as if one were to blow up a sizable number of the world’s factories.”

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on coronavirus’s impact on the Liberal government: “It’s great to keep a cool head to avoid doing stupid things. But as time goes on, and the spread of virus to more countries spreads anxiety along with it, the questions about what Canada isn’t doing will keep coming. A little reassurance that the government is willing to overreact a bit might help it to get out the message about the best ways to deal with the outbreak and to reject pointless ones.”

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the Conservative leadership race: “Victory comes to Conservatives when they win suburban Ontario and the West. The Premier of Alberta is telling Conservatives that Mr. O’Toole is better equipped to forge that coalition.”

Globe and Mail editorial board on why Alberta has a revenue problem, not a spending one: “As the Alberta budget helpfully points out, if Alberta had the same tax system as Ontario – Canada’s second-lowest tax province – Edmonton would be bringing in an extra $14.4-billion this year. That would leave Alberta with a $7.6-billion budget surplus. If Alberta had Saskatchewan taxes, provincial coffers would take in an extra $15.1-billion. Copying B.C.’s tax system would yield an extra $17.5-billion.”

Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on the slow death of deliverology: “To anyone who has worked in government, the whole concept of ‘deliverology’ smacked of warmed-over administration theory repackaged by former bureaucrats-turned-consultants seeking to monetize their insider knowledge of the public service. And career bureaucrats do not take kindly to know-it-all political appointees telling them how to do their jobs.”

Rita Trichur (The Globe and Mail) on the future of tax season: “Folks, it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry. But if the Liberal government is serious about putting people first, the solution is simple: Make the CRA do our taxes for us.”

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