Ottawa

Sheila Fraser’s straight talk express

The Auditor General bids adieu.

“We all know Canada’s population is getting older, but we are still grappling with its implications — fewer people in the labour force, less economic growth and less tax revenue,” Fraser said in a speech. “At the same time, we can expect people will need more health-care services and will be drawing on public pensions. Obviously, balancing these fiscal pressures will be a major challenge.”

At a later news conference, she expanded on why Canadians need to know more about potentially significant costs looming down the road. “There may be some very hard choices that have to be made. And unless Canadians can understand the pressures that are coming and that government has to deal with, I think it will be very difficult for them to accept, perhaps, decisions that the government will have to make.”

More here, here and here. Ms. Fraser has also released a final report looking back on her decade in office.

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