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David Macdonald

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About David Macdonald

David Macdonald is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He joined the centre in 2011, although he has been a long time contributor as a research associate. Since 2008, he has coordinated the Alternative Federal Budget, which takes a fresh look at the federal budget from a progressive perspective. David has also written on a variety of topics, from Canada's real estate bubble to Aboriginal income inequality. He is a regular media commentator on national policy issues. He is the author of the report Picking up the Tab: A complete accounting of federal and provincial COVID-19 measures in 2020.

David received his BA from the University of Windsor and his MA from the University of Guelph, both in Philosophy.

6 Articles

A Pearsonian moment? Not in this budget

The biggest extension to health care by far in this budget was a national dental care program. This went from obscurity to policy in a matter of months due to its inclusion in the Liberal-NDP agreement.
Opinion | April 7th 2022

What the new Liberal-NDP agreement means for Budget 2022

With the budget on the horizon, we won’t have long to wait to see if the fine print matches the expectations.
Opinion | April 4th 2022

Budget 2021 applies lessons learned from COVID-19

This was the largest public health and economic crisis since the Second World War, and it has clearly illustrated how our health and social safety nets are lacking, writes David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Opinion | April 19th 2021

Canadians need more federal supports — because COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon

"If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that neither long-term care nor child care should be left to profit-seeking entities," writes David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Opinion, Politics | February 2nd 2021

The next act: Feds' fiscal update needs to reflect pandemic challenges ahead

The federal fiscal update unveiled Monday is a chance to address the current crisis but also move into the rebuild phases of this pandemic, says David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Opinion | November 30th 2020

Pandemic response shows Canada can afford a  zero carbon future

In Canada, the federal response to COVID-19 has illustrated how much governments can do when they deploy their awesome fiscal power. So how about using that power to build a green economy?
Opinion | July 29th 2020

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