The following is a 10-point summary of the CCPA Alternative Federal Budget released yesterday.

The Drummond Commission reported yesterday.

The good

While the McGuinty government prevented the Commission from considering tax rates, it proposes some sensible measures to raise revenue. Chapter 18, "Revenue Integrity," recommends combating corporate tax avoidance and cracking down on the underground economy.

Businesses sometimes hire workers as "contractors" to avoid paying Ontario's Employer Health Tax. Drummond advises the province to deem them as employees.

Statistics Canada reported recently that the annual inflation rate remained 2.9 per cent and the Bank of Canada's core rate remained 2.1 per cent in November.

The monthly increase in consumer prices slowed to 0.1 per cent in November from 0.3 per cent in October. The monthly increase in core prices slowed to 0.1 per cent in November from 0.2 per cent in October.

Inflation remains modest and should not deter the Bank of Canada from keeping interest rates low, and perhaps reducing them, to support our fragile economy and labour market.

Advocates of low potash royalties are claiming that New Democrats fared poorly in Saskatchewan's recent election because they proposed higher potash royalties. Of course, potash companies and their boosters would like the NDP to give up this cause. Doing so would be a political mistake for the party and a disservice to the people of Saskatchewan.

Most polling indicates that most Saskatchewan residents support collecting more from potash companies. So, why didn't the NDP get more traction on the issue? In politics, timing can be everything.

To state the obvious, Saskatchewan's provincial election result was not good for progressives. I was especially surprised by the NDP's loss of constituencies like Regina Douglas Park (where I grew up), Moose Jaw Wakamow and Prince Albert Northcote.

It could have been worse. Political commentators were musing about the NDP falling below 30 per cent of the popular vote and to fewer than half a dozen MLAs. In fact, it garnered 32 per cent and elected nine.

Regarding the NDP platform's reliance on additional potash revenue, columnist Murray Mandryk asks, "What if potash tanks as it did in 2009?"

Of course, budgets are necessarily based on assumptions about future commodity prices. Saskatchewan Finance estimates that each dollar of change in the price of oil alters provincial revenues by $20 million (page 35). So, if a barrel of oil is $10 cheaper than projected, the future surpluses needed to fund the Sask Party platform would evaporate.

Saskatchewan's two major parties have unveiled their election platforms.

The NDP's fiscal plan is to collect higher potash royalties and reinvest the proceeds in public priorities like health care, education and housing. Columnist Murray Mandryk notes the spectre of Erin Weir.

The NDP has expressed a willingness to discuss sharing resource revenues with First Nations. The Sask Party criticizes the NDP for not costing this possibility.

A common refrain among political pundits has been that all of Ontario's election platforms are unrealistic given a deteriorating economic outlook. Rather than bemoaning this alleged lack of realism, we should evaluate how each party's platform would fare in a downturn.

The NDP platform is built on the fiscal framework set out in the 2011 provincial budget. The Liberal and Conservative platforms are based on slightly more optimistic private-sector forecasts. However, such forecasts have been revised down since the platforms were formulated.

The Ontario NDP presented its comprehensive platform costing yesterday, including all policies announced during the election campaign.

A popular theme among commentators has been that platform costings are unrealistic given the deteriorating economic outlook. As Andrea Horwath noted, her platform includes significant contingency funds.