Britain’s new coalition government came to office promising Canadian-style fiscal reform.  Brian Lee Crowley and his collaborators literally wrote the book on the Canadian experience, and the lessons others might learn from it.

From 1988 to the late 1990s Canada achieved far-reaching reforms that began with free trade with the USA and the Good and Services Tax and continued through balanced budgets, debt reduction and falling taxes.  Many reforms that were put in place required extensive political bargaining with powerful interests.  This hard-won fiscal advantage paid benefits during the past decade as Canada emerged from the recession more quickly than almost any other industrialised country.

Dr Crowley will speak about the Canadian experience, its relevance to the UK and will consider whether the UK government is truly pursuing “Canadian-style” reform.

Dr Crowley has headed up the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) in Ottawa since its inception in March 2010.  He is the author of numerous books, including two bestsellers: Fearful Symmetry: The Fall and Rise of Canada’s Founding Values (2009) and MLI’s first book, The Canadian Century; Moving Out of America’s Shadow.  The Canadian Century was recently awarded with the Sir Antony Fisher Award for excellence in think tank publications, the third time one of Dr Crowley’s publications has been so honoured.

From 2006-08, Dr Crowley was the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist with Canada’s federal Department of Finance. He holds a doctorate in political economy from the London School of Economics and has taught politics, economics and philosophy at various universities in Canada and Europe.  Dr Crowley is a sought-after speaker and frequent media commentator on political and economic issues.

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