The twenty-ninth edition of How Ottawa Spends focuses on the policies of the Harper government and the course of federal-provincial relations. Leading scholars of Canadian public policy explore several key policy areas, including fiscal balance in the federation, tax policy, regulatory capacity, the federal funding of territorial and northern Aboriginal governments, child care policy, higher education policy, telecommunications policy, and the rapid appearance and disappearance of the federal social economy initiative - i.e., "how Ottawa doesn't spend."

Contributors include Frances Abele (Carleton & IRPP), Cheryl N. Collier (Carleton), Geoffrey Hale (University of Lethbridge), Walter Hettich (emeritus, California State), Edward T. Jackson (Carleton), Rianne Mahon (Carleton), Allan M. Maslove (Carleton), Clara Morgan (Carleton), Michael J. Prince (University of Victoria), Richard Schultz (McGill), Robert Slater (Carleton), Barry Stemshorn (University of Ottawa), and Stanley L. Winer (Carleton).