Earlier this year, I argued that British Columbia should take a page from the Chrétien-Martin government’s 1990s spending review to help address its fiscal situation. This review was a principled and methodical exercise that reined in out-of-control spending and helped pull Canada back from the fiscal brink. But if that example feels too distant, the federal government just handed B.C. a more contemporary playbook to follow.

A few weeks ago, the federal government tabled its long-awaited Budget 2025. While not as transformational or generational as advertised, it did at least acknowledge some of the structural weaknesses in Canada’s economy. The budget rightly points to “weak productivity and chronically low business investment” as causing our lacklustre economic performance over the past ten years.

Ottawa also conceded that operational spending and the size of the public service have grown far beyond what taxpayers can afford. The government called the rise in the federal workforce “unsustainable.” In the........

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