With the deadline to file taxes a week away, a record number of voters say their taxes are too high, according to the latest Fox News Poll. They are also bothered by the rich not paying their fair share and how the government uses their money. In addition, three-quarters feel government spending is wasteful — up almost 20 points since last year.

Last year, 57% said a great deal (44%) or almost all (13%) of government spending was inefficient; now that’s up 18 points, with 75% feeling that way (53% a great deal, 22% almost all).

 FOX NEWS POLL: BROAD ANXIETY ABOUT AI DOESN’T EXTEND TO JOBS

The increase in those thinking spending is wasteful is seen among most demographics, with the biggest bumps among Democrats and independents. Three-quarters of Republicans think government spending is wasteful, down from more than 8 in 10 in March 2025.

Voters are also down on how the Trump administration has handled identifying and cutting wasteful government spending, with nearly two-thirds, 64%, calling their efforts only fair (20%) or poor (44%), up from 56% last March (13% only fair, 43% poor).

While there is broad bipartisan agreement that a significant share of government spending is wasteful and inefficient — with roughly three-quarters of Democrats, Republicans, and independents saying so — a sharp partisan divide emerges on the Trump administration’s handling of identifying and cutting that waste: nearly all Democrats (90%) and a large majority of independents (80%) say it is not doing a good job, while 7-in-10 Republicans (69%) give it a positive rating.

A record 70% of voters think the taxes they pay are too high — up 11 points from last March and surpassing the previous high of 64% in March 2024. It also marks the largest year-over-year increase since the question was first asked in 2004, when 51% felt taxes were too high. A majority of voters have consistently said their tax burden is too much.

 FOX NEWS POLL: SOUR VOTERS SAY WASHINGTON IS OUT OF TOUCH

Compared to last year, groups showing the highest increase in concern over how much they are paying include voters with graduate degrees (+24 points since 2025), very liberal voters (+20), Democratic men (+19), moderates (+19), rural voters (+17), White voters without a college degree (+16), and women ages 45+ (+16).

What bothers people most about federal income taxes is the wealthy are not paying enough (38%), although that figure has dipped slightly from last year’s record high of 45%. Close behind is concern about how the government spends their tax dollars, up 3 points from a year ago to 29%.

Other irritations are the amount of taxes paid (14%), feeling too many people don’t pay enough (10%), and the complexity of the system (9%).

Democrats (57%) and independents (40%) are the most concerned about the rich not paying enough, while Republicans’ biggest issue is the amount the government uses (39%).

“The data show why Democrats persistently frame budget, spending, and tax policy questions as a matter of the rich paying their fair share,” says Republican Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “It’s one of the only ways the party is competitive on these issues given public skepticism about government performance.”

Disapproval of how President Trump is handling taxes has reached a record high of 64%, up 11 points from a year ago.

Dissatisfaction is up across the board, including among Democrats (+9 points disapproving since April 2025), independents (+14) and Republicans (+9).

One more thing…

AI use is on the rise, but not for tax prep.

Nearly 9 in 10 voters (87%) say they are not using AI to help with their taxes this year, while roughly 1 in 10 (13%) say they will or already have. Those most likely to say they will use AI are Republicans under age 45 (29%), voters under 30 (23%), Hispanic voters (21%), Black voters (20%), and employed voters (19%).

Conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.

It might be a busy market for mergers and acquisitions in Canada’s oilpatch later this year, provided the geopolitical mayhem eases enough for buyers and sellers to find common ground on price, says a partner at consulting firm Deloitte.

In a report published Wednesday, Deloitte said deal activity seemed to be on the upswing heading into this year after a decade-long lull. But with the U.S.-Israel war on Iran shaking global oil markets, the outlook now is much more hazy.

“It’s really hard for a deal to get done” with the US$115-a-barrel price West Texas Intermediate was hovering around earlier this week, said Andrew Botterill, partner for energy, resources and industrials at Deloitte Canada. “Buyers and sellers are just too far apart.”

WTI plummeted 17 per cent to trade at about US$96 per barrel in late-morning trading Wednesday after the U.S., Iran and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, heading off U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian civilization.

2:39
Business Matters: Global leaders look for new ways to stabilize oil prices

The current crude price is still about 40 per cent higher than where it was trading before the conflict began in late February, spilling over to several countries in the region and choking off 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

But if the volatility blows over — as futures market trading seems to suggest might happen later this year — Canada’s energy sector would be ripe for an acceleration in merger and acquisition activity.

“People are starting to really come to the recognition that Canada is very investable right now and it’s a place to deploy capital and we should expect to see more deals,” said Botterill.

The oilsands are already dominated by a handful of big players, so there are few opportunities in that space, he said.

But the Montney and Duvernay areas of northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta are some of “the world’s highest-quality assets out there” and are likely to see more consolidation. Those rocks are rich in natural gas liquids, whose prices tend to track those of crude oil.

“The repeatability economics are so strong, the technology is so consistent and Canadian producers have just done such a great job at managing costs alongside that and continuing to make large swaths of resource highly profitable,” said Botterill.

2:46
Canada ‘reliable’ and ‘low-risk’ oil exporter, will up production amid energy crisis: Carney

In its latest forecast, Deloitte predicted an average 2026 WTI price of US$85 per barrel, but the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been driving prices significantly higher than that, but oil traders seem to be betting on a more mellow market in the latter half of this year.

Contracts for delivery in August and beyond have been sinking below US$80 per barrel. For 2027, Deloitte is forecasting a drop in WTI to US$76.50. For 2028, it sees a return to the prewar level of US$67.65.

Meanwhile, the benchmark for Alberta natural gas is forecast to average $2.15 per mmBTU in 2026, climbing to $3.20 in 2028.

A balmy winter in much of Canada coupled with a slower-than-expected ramp-up of the LNG Canada export terminal on the B.C. coast put pressure on the price of the home-heating fuel, Botterill said.

He’s never felt so positively about the prospects for Canada’s liquefied natural gas export ambitions.

The war has knocked out LNG production from Qatar, one of the world’s biggest players, sending Asian and European power prices soaring and highlighting Canada as a relatively stable global supplier.

“These are hard projects to get approved and it’s a lot of money, so I think there’s still a lot of work to get done to move particular projects forward,” Botterill said.

“But at the end of the day, Canada is seen as a real safe place for capital and it’s seen as even more investable now than it was a few years ago. We’re going to be talking about one or two or three more projects off the West Coast over the coming years.”

1:53
Canada’s role in historic emergency oil reserve release

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The Vancouver Park Board has approved a plan to press city hall for a massive investment in its next capital plan.

The Park Board vice chair, Brennan Bastyovanszky, put forward the proposal to advocate for major repairs on aging facilities and infrastructure over the next four years.

Dozens of public speakers put their support behind the motion at the Park Board meeting on Tuesday night, with some saying what they would like the funds to go towards.

The plan asks for a “historic investment in parks and recreation” of $1.35 billion.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

Amendments were tabled by commissioner Scott Jensen, upping the total commitment from $1.35 billion to $1.43 billion, which would include $300 million for spaces like the Seawall and waterfront, $250 million towards aquatic facilities and $400 million on renewing community centres.

”Over the last three years, we’ve been hearing people talk about the deteriorating state of Vancouver facilities and how it could and should do better,” Jensen said.

“This is an opportunity for them to speak publicly and be heard by the commissioners and hopefully by city council because it’s such a public meeting. We need this infrastructure, we need this money and investment. We need it now.”

2:09
Vancouver Park Board commissioner asking for massive investment from city

A draft capital plan will be presented to commissioners in June.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A B.C. government promotion to hand out free coffee and tea to recruit U.S. health-care workers to move to the province to work came with a hefty price tag.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation submitted a Freedom of Information request to find out how much the two-day initiative in June 2025 in Seattle cost B.C. taxpayers.

“This process took so long because government and the third party were fighting tooth and nail to prevent taxpayers from seeing these documents,” Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told Global News.

He said they decided to file the Freedom of Information request after B.C. Premier David Eby posted a photo of the coffee truck on his social media account.

“These invoices show the province spent $165,000 delivering 1,000 cups of coffee to health-care workers in the United States,” Binda said.

“That works out to about $165 per cup of coffee.”

2:14
B.C. targets U.S. states in health care recruitment campaign

The invoice shows that taxpayers paid for a branded truck, 1,000 cups of coffee, 1,000 branded cups and napkins, location procurement, and about 10 consultants to hand out the coffee or tea.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

The opposition said this raises many questions about the campaign results.

“My question would be what did this result in, how many applications, but more importantly, how many jobs were confirmed by this spend with this specific truck and this massive coffee order?” Trevor Halford, interim leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, said.

B.C.’s Health Ministry acknowledged the colourful coffee truck was part of their recruitment marketing campaign, calling it money well spent. They noted more than 500 health-care professionals have been hired from the U.S.

“There’s no doubt that we have a health-care worker shortage here, but I also think too that this government needs to be accountable with what they’re doing with taxpayer dollars,” Halford said.

Binda said he understands that the province is actively recruiting health-care workers from the U.S., but he doesn’t think anyone is moving their family because the government gave them a free cup of coffee.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The federal government will address infrastructure gaps across Canada with billions of dollars in funding over the coming decade, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday at a news conference in Brampton, Ont.

Carney used the event to break down how his government plans to dole out $51 billion in the Liberals’ Build Communities Strong Fund. The new pot of money was first announced in the 2025 budget, which became law last month.

Ottawa plans to nearly double the rate of infrastructure investment in Canada over the next eight years compared with the previous eight years, Carney said.

He teased that future announcements are coming on initiatives for skills training and apprenticeships, and urged youth to consider a career to support the infrastructure agenda.

“The next 25, 30 years is going to be a great time to be in the trades, to be an electrician, to be pipe fitter, to be welder, to a plumber, a carpenter and beyond, because we are literally going to build this country,” Carney said.

The Build Communities Strong Fund includes $27.8 billion over the next 10 years for infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer systems and $6 billion for other major local projects like building retrofits and community centres.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

Carney’s first announcement under this local stream was $64 million for a new recreation centre and park in Brampton. The federal government announced $300 million in funding for 13 total projects later in the day, more than a third of which will go toward water and wastewater systems underpinning new housing developments in Iqaluit.

The federal government launched a web page Tuesday allowing municipalities and other organizations to apply for new project funding under this stream.

1:53
Halifax construction project will be receiving a financial boost from federal government

The remaining $17.2 billion in the fund is to be matched by provinces and territories and used to reduce the cost of building new infrastructure and housing. That includes $5 billion over three years to build out health-care facilities such as new emergency departments.

With $6 billion set aside for the province, Ontario will receive the biggest share from the provincial and territorial stream. Quebec will receive $3.6 billion, British Columbia will get $2.2 billion and Alberta will receive $1.9 billion, with hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for the remaining provinces and territories.

Provinces and territories are required to allocate 20 per cent of their funding to rural, Northern and Indigenous communities. Ten per cent of funding through the $6-billion “direct delivery” stream must go to Indigenous-led projects.

The federal government announced an agreement with Ontario last week for a total of $8.8 billion in matching funds to encourage cities to cut development charges. Ontario and Ottawa will also waive the sales taxes on eligible new homes for the next year as part of a total $1.7 billion in funding to provinces and territories to lower homebuilding costs as they see fit.

British Columbia MP Dan Albas, the Conservative critic for transport, criticized the infrastructure fund rollout as “another reannouncement” in a statement Tuesday.

“Conservatives want our infrastructure, homes and health to grow and improve, but the Carney Liberals need to get out of the way and scrap their anti-development laws and unaffordable taxes,” Albas said.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced details of the federal government’s multi-billion-dollar Build Communities Strong Fund, which was announced in the 2025 budget.

B.C. will be given $2.2 billion from the $51 billion fund.

“We’re partnering with provinces, territories and municipalities to build local infrastructure,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

“From better hospitals, public transit to local community centres.”

3:14
New community centre breaks ground in Brampton as part of Carney infrastructure fund

The federal government is making money available in three separate streams, with the provincial stream being available for projects such as health care, housing, colleges and universities.

Provinces are required to match the funding and reduce construction costs.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

The Direct Delivery stream will fund large building retrofits, climate adaptation and community and recreational spaces. Communities can apply for funding starting on Tuesday.

The Community stream will fund local roads, bridges, water systems, and community centres.

“Our city is growing, people deserve quality livable amenities, we are welcoming new housing, but the community infrastructure has to go along with that and that’s what we want to prioritize as a council,” Vancouver Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said.

Last week, Ontario announced that some of its funding would be used to waive the sales tax on eligible new homes. The B.C. government has yet to determine how its money will be used.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

With diesel and fertilizer prices surging, Canadian farmers are bracing for much higher costs than anticipated this growing season.

As the war in Iran persists, diesel’s price continues rising, approaching $2 per litre in much of Canada — besides parts of B.C. where prices have surpassed that.

This fuel is commonly used in farming machinery and, due to its climbing cost, may be one factor in future food price spikes.

“We expect crop margins, the profitability of planting crops, of this upcoming season to be small. Even a small rise in diesel prices are going to be impactful, and might be very meaningful,” explained Sebastian Pouliot, a Quebec City-based economic consultant.

“We’re going to be filling our fuel tanks in the next couple of days — that’s going to be an additional cost. We haven’t really sat down to figure out how much that’s going to be,” Charles Fossay, the director of Keystone Agricultural Producers in Manitoba, told Global News.

4:07
Airlines adding fuel surcharge to flight bookings

Previous Video

Next Video

Some farmers offset costs by filling their on-farm fuel reserve tanks at the onset of the war, Fossay said.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

He is not alone in having to manage unexpected costs. Farmers from coast to coast to coast said they feel the pressure to produce.

“It’s going to be very expensive this year to irrigate if things don’t change,” said Christian Michaud, a New Brunswick farmer, discussing the issue of dry growing seasons in the Maritimes.

In addition to diesel, farmers are also facing challenges due to soaring fertilizer costs, but Pouliot said consumers should not expect grocery prices to go up yet.

“It’s not going to happen right away. Prices at retail don’t change all that quickly typically. Even if fuel prices rise, we’re not going to see it in food right away — it might be in a few weeks, a few months in some cases,” he explained.

Pouliot said he does not expect the cost of food to significantly rise if diesel prices reset at the end of the conflict, and an agreement is reached soon.

“You can only store so much (fuel), and you’ve got to refill your tanks throughout the year. So, you can save a little bit here, but if the prices stay up, at the end of the day, you’re still paying a lot of money,” Fossay said.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Vancouver’s downtown is starting to bounce back, but many challenges remain, according to the eighth annual State of Downtown report.

“This year’s report shows that downtown Vancouver is stabilizing—but “stabilizing” isn’t enough,” Jane Talbot, president and CEO of Downtown Van stated in the report.

“Downtown Vancouver matters, and until we meaningfully address the challenges it faces, we won’t fully realize our city’s potential.”

Hotel occupancy in the downtown core has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the report found, with an average occupancy of 80.5 per cent.

They are expected to rise this year during the FIFA World Cup to near full capacity.

This tourism growth is also driving new development, according to the report, with more than 6,500 hotel rooms in various stages of development in the city as of March 2026.

2:28
Accountability when spending tax dollars on the Downtown Eastside

As more workers returned to offices in the downtown area, visits to Vancouver’s central business district held steady in 2025 and for the first time since the pandemic, transit boardings in the downtown district stabilized at approximately 45 million in 2025.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.

The downtown office market also appeared to hold steady, ending 2025 with a 12.3 per cent vacancy rate, which is up from 2024, suggesting the market is becoming more stable, the report found.

However, challenges remain when it comes to businesses in the downtown area.

The report found that downtown is at its lowest vacancy rate in three years at 12.7 per cent; however, Granville Street vacancy improved significantly at 24.9 per cent in January.

Both restaurants and businesses in the downtown area continue to feel economic pressure, the report found, and consumers are still being cautious with their spending.

Travel and entertainment spending, however, rose slightly, which is consistent with broader Canadian spending trends.

Safety and crime continue to be an issue, the report found, with calls increasing in every category in 2025 — most notably with open drug use calls and welfare checks.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.