The Buck STARTS Here
Come write a speculative budget together!
Every year, Canada (and every other country around the world) releases a federal budget that quietly — and sometimes loudly — shapes the conditions of our lives. It signals what our government values, what it believes should grow, and what it’s willing to let wither. Budgets, for better or worse, are stories of the future told in numbers.
And this year’s story feels… off.
If you’ve been watching the commentary, the confusion, the contradictions, or the celebratory press releases that don’t quite match the lived realities around us, you may be feeling a bit disoriented. Or frustrated. Or tired. Or maybe all of the above.
I’ve been sitting with all of those feelings too.
There’s something unsettling about reading multi-billion-dollar allocations that don’t reflect the kind of future so many of us are trying to build — a future grounded in climate justice, care, equity, creativity, and community resilience. (Definitely not one rooted in false solutions and denial!)
Budgets can feel like they belong to someone else: opaque, far away, locked behind jargon and parliamentary rituals.
But here’s the thing:
a budget is ultimately a kind of collective moral document.
It answers the question: What do we owe each other?
And more importantly: What future are we choosing to fund?
When we don’t see ourselves or our values in that document, it’s an invitation — maybe even an obligation — to imagine alternatives.
After all, it’s OUR taxes that make a national budget possible in the first place!
That’s where The Buck Starts Here comes in.
I want to create a space where we can slow down, step back, and unpack what this year’s budget actually contains (in human language, not policy-speak). Then, together, we’ll do something that is equal parts playful and radical: co-create our own speculative budget.
Not a perfect budget.
Not a politically “realistic” one.
A values-driven, community-generated imagining of what funding could look like if we centered care, equity, climate action, and long-term thriving.
I was inspired both by my friend Aliya Khondker, who will be co-hosting these sessions with me, as well as the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s Alternative Federal Budget 2026 (a much more detailed beast than what we’ll co-create, but very inspiring nonetheless!)
During the workshop, each participant will receive a symbolic $100 (million) to allocate across the priorities that matter most to them. Afterwards, we’ll tally the data, reflect on emerging patterns, and publish our collective speculative budget as a response to the federal one.
This is a small experiment — a way of reclaiming imagination in a moment where public discourse feels so narrow and polarized. But it’s also a reminder that we are not powerless observers of policy. We are storytellers of possible futures. And our visions deserve a budget line.
If this resonates with you, I’d love for you to join us.
Two virtual sessions, open to anyone across Canada (friends abroad always welcome, just FYI this conversation will be dripping in maple syrup).
Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your vision of what our money could be doing.
Let’s rethink the budget.
Let’s rebuild the story.
The buck starts here.
See you soon!
Alicia
This is a great invite; sorry I can only join for the second session! Looking forward to learning of Aliya's work too!