This is the eleventh edition of How Ottawa Spends .Like previous editions, it focusses on particular departments and policy initiatives of the federal government. This year's edition also deals with some of the internal management issues that have emerged as important in the government's quest for efficiency and productivity. Beyond evaluating past actions, the book is intended to offer informed comment on prospects for the future in the areas it explores. This is the second edition since the re-election of a Conservative majority government in November 1988. We now have an opportunity to assess the direction of the second Tory agenda. It seems important to start this assessment by asking some very basic questions: Is there a discernible government agenda? To what extent can we see similarities and differences in the direction of Conservative initiatives when we compare their first and second terms? What accounts for any similarities and differences that emerge? What are the implications of the direction of government initiatives? These questions are given broad treatment in the book's first chapter, which focusses largely on the February 1990 Budget and the federal Estimates for the 1990-91 fiscal year. That analysis is intended to set the stage for the more specific discussions of the federal agenda which follow.

This is the thirtieth volume in the series How Ottawa Spends. It is arguable that never in these years have Canadians faced such serious economic upheaval and political dysfunction as the current climate. The dramatic and seemingly sudden changes in the economy occurred simultaneously with a political drama - one that was largely disassociated from the real and pressing economic challenge. Early Harper budgets delivered lower taxes for all Canadians partly through highly targeted but politically noticeable small tax breaks on textbooks for students, tools for apprentices in skilled trades, and public transit costs. The needs of the beleaguered average Canadian and the "swing voter in the swing constituencies" of an already strategized "next" election were a key part of Conservative agenda-setting. In the 2007 budget alone there were twenty-nine separate tax reductions and federal spending was projected to increase by $10 billion, including a 5.7 percent increase in program spending. A small surplus of $3.3 billion was planned, almost all of which would go to debt reduction. As Harper savoured his 14 October 2008 re-election with a strengthened minority government, although without his desired majority, he and his minister of Finance already knew that his surpluses were likely gone in the face of the crashing financial sector and a looming recession. Future deficits were firmly back on the agenda. Contributors include Malcolm G. Bird (Carleton University), Chris Brown (Carleton University), G. Bruce Doern (Carleton University and University of Exeter), Melissa Haussman (Carleton University), Robert Hilton (Carleton University), Ruth Hubbard (University of Ottawa), Edward T. Jackson (Carleton University), Kirsten Kozolanka (Carleton University), Evert Lindquist (University of Victoria), Allan M. Maslove (Carleton University), Peter Nares (Social and Enterprise Development Innovations), Gilles Paquet (University of Ottawa), L. Pauline Rankin (Carleton University), Jennifer Robson (Carleton University), Robert P. Shepherd (Carleton University), Richard Shillington (Informetrica Limited), and Chris Stoney (Carleton University).

An examination of federal and provincial government responsibilities with respect to native peoples, these essays deal with the most appalling "political football" in Canadian politics. Specially commissioned experts in the field write on topics such as fiscal, legal and constitutional issues, and examine the circumstances of specific native groups in Canada.

This volume is the thirteenth in the series on federal government spending and policy performance compiled by Carleton University's School of Public Administration. This year's edition considers the politics of competitiveness - the ways in which international forces and trends pose particular challenges to federal policy makers. Articles are provided by experts on a variety of topics, including staff relations under the Tories, federal attempts to grapple with unemployment and the changing global economy, the evolving relationship between the Department of Finance and the Bank of Canada, changes in the funding of health care, the governance of the national capital, as well as federal attention to policies for the disabled and the Canadian AIDS policy. Also addressed are the Conservatives' centerpiece environmental program, the Green Plan and regulation to broadcasting in the face of major technological advances.

The twenty-sixth edition of How Ottawa Spends examines the policy initiatives, priorities, and initial spending of Martin's Liberals in an era where a political coronation seemed inevitable but high expectations had to be managed downwards almost immediately. Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Public Administration's annual study focuses on key issues, including Canada-US cross-border relations, health care reform, public safety and security, and the role of public inquiries. A less-than-buoyant fiscal surplus, escalating concerns about Liberal Party ethics and corruption, and a growing volatility in public opinion are examined, as are Canadians' increasingly uncertain views about the new leadership, particularly after a ten-year hold on power by the Liberal Party. Contributors include Frances Abele (Carleton University), Barbara Allen (University of Birmingham and Carleton University), Gerry Baier (University of British Columbia), Herman Bakvis (Dalhousie University), Gerry Boychuk (University of Waterloo), Douglas Brown (Queen's University), John Chenier (ARC Publications and the Lobby Monitor), Michael Dewing (Library of Parliament), Monica Gattinger (University of Ottawa), Geoffrey Hale (University of Lethbridge), Ian Hodges (Carleton University), Rachel Laforest (Queen's University), Russell Lapointe (Carleton University), Allan Maslove (Carleton University), Michael Prince (University of Victoria), Jack Stillborn (Library of Parliament), Christopher Stoney (Carleton University), and Reg Whitaker (University of Victoria).