Shut up, voters. Joe Oliver is still talking

If you ever have to give Joe Oliver a lift in the family car, I’d recommend using the backward-facing baby seat.

Has Canadian public life ever seen a more delusional, fiction-obsessed revisionist than the former finance minister? Proof of that statement abounds; the latest is his recent op-ed piece penned for Chairman Godfrey at Postmedia arguing that the damned Liberals are erasing the glorious legacy of Stephen Harper.

Joe Oliver Charged Taxpayers For Flight Upgrades, Exclusive Hotel Rooms: Receipts

OTTAWA — Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver charged taxpayers hundreds of dollars to upgrade his seat on flights and spent more than $5,000 twice on in-country flights during his time as a cabinet minister.

In July 2012, Oliver spent $5,593 on two one-way flights between Toronto and Calgary so he could hold roundtable meetings with oil, gas, steel and pipeline companies.

Joe Oliver, Finance Minister, Says We're Not In Recession

TORONTO -- Canada's finance minister says Canada is not in recession now and wasn't in recession in the first half of the year despite data showing otherwise.

Joe Oliver said in an interview with The Associated Press the downturn was largely confined to the energy sector. Canada fell into a recession in the first six months of the year, dragged down by falling energy prices and economic troubles in China.

Joe Oliver's expensive travel costs undermine Conservatives' fiscally responsible

National Observer has learned that Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver has the most expensive costs in flights among all the members of Stephen Harper's cabinet, sometimes spending over $6,000 on a domestic plane trip between major Canadian cities.

‘Joe Where?’ Missing finance minister attracts NDP jibes on campaign trail

OTTAWA — Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark may remain the most famous Joe in Canadian election annals, but the "Joe Who?" moniker that followed the underdog Clark may be about to get a run for its money from current Finance Minister Joe Oliver.

With the 2015 election trail ablaze with talk of recession and the significance of Tuesday's latest economic growth numbers, Oliver is being ridiculed by New Democrats as "Joe Where?"

Oliver, 75, has been all but absent from the Conservative party's campaign so far, although he's running for re-election in Toronto, the country's media and financial mecca. He cancelled scheduled talks at two Toronto clubs last week and this week without explanation.

Why is Joe Oliver seeking economic advice from a scandal-plagued corporate honcho?

Is Canada’s finance minister, Joe Oliver, seeking economic advice from a scandal-plagued corporate honcho?

Oliver, who is also MP for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, can’t be a happy man these days: Canada has slipped into recession again, blowing a hole in his hopes of balancing the government’s budget for the first time since 2007.

NDP, Liberals Want Joe Oliver To Appear Before House Finance Committee

OTTAWA — The opposition parties want to call Finance Minister Joe Oliver before a parliamentary committee for an emergency meeting to discuss the weakening of the Canadian economy and the government’s plans to return to a balanced budget.

In July 23 letter to Conservative MP James Rajotte, chair of the Commons finance committee, NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen noted that a recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer revised the Tories’ budget projections and calculated the federal government would post a $1 billion deficit in 2015-2016. The Conservatives’ spring budget projected a $1.4 billion surplus.

Joe Oliver Says No To Quantitative Easing

TORONTO - Finance Minister Joe Oliver says he doesn't see any need for quantitative easing, despite concerns that the country may have fallen into a recession.

"We don't see any need for quantitative easing in this environment," Oliver said Tuesday at Ryerson University in Toronto, where he was promoting an expanded free trade agreement with Israel.

"I mean, after all, we've seen 90,000 jobs created this year, and we look forward to a positive year of growth.

Joe Oliver: Feds Won't Help With Ontario Pension Plan

TORONTO - Finance Minister Joe Oliver is telling Ontario the federal government will not co-operate in any way with the province's move to create its own pension plan.

Oliver sent a letter to provincial Finance Minister Charles Sousa on Thursday saying the Conservatives "will not assist the Ontario government" in the implementation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Canada doesn’t need new measures to boost economy, Finance Minister Joe Oliver says

OTTAWA—Finance Minister Joe Oliver says no new economic measures to boost the economy are needed because Canada will not be in a recession at year’s end, despite gloomier private sector economic forecasts.

Trying to calm a jittery economy, Oliver stuck to the Conservative government’s calculation that Canada would see overall positive economic growth this year. He said his main concern is “external factors” but said the federal budget would remain balanced in the face of falling oil prices and dismal trade numbers.

Joe Oliver Says Canada Not In Recession, But Growing Chorus Of Economists Disagrees

Finance Minister Joe Oliver denied it on Friday, but a growing number of economic analysts now say Canada is in a recession.

The country's economy likely shrank at an annual rate of 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Emanuella Enenajor said Thursday, as quoted at Bloomberg.

Tories Scramble After Joe Oliver's Call For Looser Labour Laws At G7

Finance Minister Joe Oliver said Wednesday he believes relaxing labour laws to make it easier to lay off workers would help spur economic growth.

The Conservatives insist he wasn’t talking about Canada. But party officials gave conflicting statements Thursday as to which country he actually was speaking about.

How many jobs will the budget create? Finance minister admits he doesn't know

Finance Minister Joe Oliver is admitting he doesn't know how many jobs last week's federal budget will create.

Despite insisting that the budget will create jobs through measures such as the small business tax cut, Oliver told CTV's Question Period that he doesn't know how many.

"We have forecasts for the growth and the economy. I don't have a specific forecast for job creation," Oliver said in an interview with Robert Fife.

7 Times Joe Oliver's Budget Speech Departs from Reality

Hyperbole alert!

Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivered his budget on Tuesday. Here's seven problems with what Oliver had to say about the state of Canada's fiscal affairs:

1. But is the world an ocean of chaos? And is Canada an island of stability?

Joe Oliver says:

"Around the world, many nations -- including some of our friends and allies -- remain mired in a struggle for fiscal security ... Still the news for Canada is, by and large, good. Amid the tumult, our country remains a beacon of economic stability and security built on a foundation of sound financial management."

Reality check:

According to Oliver's own budget, the recent drop in oil prices is going to mean chaos for Canada.

"As a producer and net exporter of crude oil," the budget says Canada will see "a significant downward revision to the outlook for economy-wide prices and therefore, nominal GDP." And what of the rest of the world? Low oil prices "will be generally positive for global growth," says the budget -- particularly for countries that import oil.

But although it projects "weaker investment and hiring within the energy sector," the government says low oil prices could (eventually) lead to "positive impacts" for other sectors of the economy. Just probably not in the near future.  

Joe Oliver is pitching a balanced-budget law. That’s hilarious.

Nobody ever gives Joe Oliver credit for his sense of humour. But the speech he gave to the Economic Club of Canada last week has to rank among the best stand-up routines in Canadian comedy history.

The punchline, of course, was the Finance minister’s vow to introduce balanced budget legislation, to fulfil a commitment made in the September 2013 throne speech. It’s a bad, bad idea — but that’s not what made it funny.

Shell game: How Harper and Oliver murdered the math

No wonder they’re spending $7.5 million in public money to advertise Joe Oliver’s budget. Bernie Madoff couldn’t have come up with a sneakier sell than this.

Still, no one should be surprised. This misbegotten government’s modus operandi is about much more than information control. It’s about soaring, jet-propelled skullduggery in a never-ending political campaign. It’s a power fantasy. It’s Steve’s way.

Armed with his narrative of convenience, Harper programs the electorate with fictions of prosperity, compassion and prudence. In the real world, he acts quite differently. There, he underfunds Coast Guard stations, veterans’ offices, First Nations tribal councils, railway inspections, scientific research and Employment Insurance processing.

Mr. Oliver makes an appearance

It’s been like some strange political pastiche of Hinterlands Who’s Who: The Canadian finance minister … a shy, reclusive creature who nests in the oilsands and tends to hibernate whenever the price of oil drops below $70.

Joe Oliver is expected to come out of his cloister Thursday morning with a promised “announcement” at the Canada Goose garment factory in Toronto. Will he finally name a date for releasing the budget? Will he announce a tax holiday for makers of high-end parkas? At this point your guess is as good as ours; a budget date announcement seems likely, but nothing in this government’s pre-election fiscal strategy has gone according to plan so far.

Joe Oliver Broke Government's Own Rules With Speeches Contract: Liberals

OTTAWA — The Conservative government broke its own rules by awarding a $9,200 untendered contract to the prime minister’s former chief of staff, Guy Giorno, Liberals charged Wednesday.

Giorno, Harper’s chief of staff from 2008 to 2010 and the Tories’ current election campaign chair, was paid $5,650 for a speech that was never delivered. He was paid another $2,825 for a speech that was given on March 19, the department of natural resources said late Wednesday.

Joe Oliver Vows Balanced Budget In 2015 Despite Oil Prices

DAVOS, Switzerland - Finance Minister Joe Oliver says he will not budge from his plan to deliver a balanced budget come April, even with the recent decline in crude oil prices.

In an interview with The Canadian Press at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oliver said Thursday he's rejecting suggestions that a small federal budget deficit would be economically acceptable and he insisted the government won't return to a deficit.

"We do not intend there be a deficit because we feel it's important to maintain confidence in the Canadian economy, to maintain confidence on the part of investors," Oliver said.

Falling oil price puts Ottawa’s surplus at risk

Finance Minister Joe Oliver is acknowledging the dramatic drop in oil prices will take a further bite out of government revenues, making Ottawa’s previously declared surplus less certain.

The government already shaved billions off of its revenue forecasts when it released a fiscal update on Nov. 12, when the price of North American crude was around $81 (U.S.). That price closed Monday below $56.