Budget 2026 Breakdown: Meredith, Robson and Tombe

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Alright, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! It’s that time of year again. The federal budget has landed, and David has gathered his crack policy panel for a Herle Burly budget lockup. Tyler Meredith, Jennifer Robson and Trevor Tombe are here break it all down.

They start with the centrepiece, the “productivity mega deduction.” It’s the biggest cut to the effective tax rate on new investment in nearly 20 years, but will Canadian business finally spend its “dead money”? The panel digs into why the measure is sector-neutral, how agriculture and manufacturing end up with negative tax rates, and whether Carney’s “all-of-the-above” industrial strategy can succeed where past incentives fell short.

Then it’s on to the fisc. Is a $63 billion deficit sustainable? Are we one bad shock away from trouble? And is the capital-versus-operating budget split real accounting or just clever marketing? The panel also weighs whether the affordability measures will reach the households feeling the squeeze, where the workers for all these megaprojects will come from, and why the auto sector is still waiting for a plan. Plus, the twist nobody had on their bingo card: Mark Carney, poverty fighter?

Today's panel is well-known to our listeners:

Tyler is the former Head of Fiscal and Economic Policy for Prime Minister Trudeau and Ministers of Finance, Chrystia Freeland and Bill Morneau. Today, he’s a Founding Partner at Meredith/Boessenkool & Phillips Policy Advisors.

Jennifer served for years in senior roles in policy development and research with the Federal Government. She’s now Program Director and Associate Professor of Political Management at Carleton University.

And Trevor is a Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary, and the Director of Fiscal and Economic Policy at its School of Public Policy.

Tune in for the smartest budget analysis in the business!

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