When Rednwhite says a government’s spending looks out of place, we mean something specific. This page explains what we look for, how we decide something is worth flagging, and the limits of what public financial documents can tell us.
What we look for
We’re looking for spending that seems anomalous — higher than expected, inconsistent with past years, or hard to explain. The main signals we track:
Unusual cost growth
When a department’s spending grows significantly faster than inflation, population, or revenues without a clear reason, that’s worth looking at. Some growth is legitimate — a new program, a one-time event, an emergency. But sustained unexplained growth often indicates something worth examining.
Budget vs. actual gaps
Governments table budgets every year with detailed spending projections. When actual spending is dramatically different from what was projected — higher or lower — we ask why. Persistent overruns in the same categories, or repeated under-spending on capital projects that then cost more later, are red flags.
Peer comparison
We compare what governments spend on similar services. If one city spends three times as much per kilometre on road maintenance as comparable cities, or one province’s healthcare administration costs are double the national average, that deserves scrutiny — even if the spending is technically within budget.
Auditor General findings
When an Auditor General issues a qualified opinion, flags internal control weaknesses, or specifically calls out a program for poor financial management, we include that in our analysis. These are the most authoritative findings available.
Disclosure quality
Some governments publish detailed, timely, easy-to-read financial documents. Others are vague, late, or structured in ways that make it hard to understand where money went. We track this — because obscuring financial information is itself a problem.
What we use
All data comes from primary source documents: consolidated financial statements, public accounts, departmental results reports, Auditor General and Comptroller General reports, and financial information returns (for municipalities). We do not rely on government summaries, press releases, or media coverage as sources.
What we can’t see
Public financial documents don’t tell the whole story. Some spending is classified. Some is buried in subsidiaries. Some is disclosed in ways that make it very hard to compare across years or jurisdictions. When a government is unusually opaque, we say so — but we can only analyze what’s publicly disclosed.
Our independence
Rednwhite accepts no government funding and no advertising. We are funded entirely by individual donations from Canadians who believe governments should answer for how they spend public money. We have no political affiliation and analyze all governments — federal, provincial, municipal — by the same standards, regardless of which party is in power.