The Rundown 11/7/25: Can $1 Trillion Truly Build a Stronger Canada? Inside the 2025 Budget Breakdown with Mark McQueen

Episode notes

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen is joined by John Ruffolo and special guest Mark McQueen, Founder of Wellington Growth Partners and one of Canada’s leading voices on capital markets and policy, as they dive into Canada’s 2025 Federal Budget. Together, they unpack the implications of Ottawa’s newly tabled “Building a Stronger Canada” budget, one that promises $1 trillion in investment over five years, with a heavy focus on productivity, infrastructure, defense, and innovation. The three dissect everything from the $78B deficit and 40,000 public service cuts, to new measures for AI, fintech, and open banking. Mark brings a pragmatic lens to the table, calling out where policy meets politics, and where Canada’s ambitions fall short compared to U.S. spending. They debate whether this really is the “FinTech Budget,” explore the Bank of Canada’s new stablecoin oversight, and discuss how Canada’s pension funds, capital markets, and innovation ecosystem might respond.

• The Rundown 6/23/26: The AI Hype Machine, Canada’s Capital Gap, and the Return of Hard Tech79 / 100
• Why Canada’s Trading Market is Ready for Disruption with Michael Arbus of moomoo Canada68 / 100
• The Brutal Truth About Hardware Startups and Physical AI with Aidan Madigan-Curtis of Eclipse Capital78 / 100
• The Rundown 6/4/22: Alphabet’s $80B AI Bet, Anthropic’s IPO Push, and the New AI Capital War
• The Rundown 5/25/26: SPACs Are Back: Xanadu, UniUni, and Canada’s Capital Gap