Time was, a federal budget was a breathlessly-anticipated, market-jolting, ultra-secretive, capital-E Event.
Mounties ultimately found the leaker , Small was threatened but ultimately never faced charges, then-finance minister Michael Wilson was hounded but never ultimately resigned, and security of the budget printing was examined and ultimately redoubled. It was pretty fabulous drama, if mainly for us village folk of parliamentary Ottawa.
Thus Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had to hand us the latest invoice, and the payment plan, for the ideas it has for us in the years ahead. In the absence of its strategy to spur investment, it has focused on taxing the people who, and companies that, actually spur investment. So much for a pursuit of higher productivity.