This Alert provides Canadians with information necessary to judge government performance in taxing, spending, and managing financial resources. Specifically, the Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) measures the performance of the federal and provincial governments on a variety of measures of government spending, tax rates and revenues, and debts and deficits from 2001/02 to 2005/06.

Governments across Canada are facing increasing pressures on a number of fronts: calls to increase spending, particularly in areas like health and education; demands for legislated debt reduction; and certainly not least, calls for greater tax competitiveness. The ability of governments to balance these pressures and pursue sound fiscal policy over both the shorter and longer terms can be a critical determinant of long-term economic success. As such, governments in Canada must be held accountable for their fiscal performance.

The objective of this Fraser Alert is to provide Canadians with information necessary to judge government performance in taxing, spending, and managing financial resources. Specifically, the Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) measures the performance of the federal and provincial governments on a variety of measures of government spending, tax rates and revenues, and debts and deficits from 2001/02 to 2005/06.