The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Thursday's federal budget will include new measures to support small and medium-sized businesses, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told a business audience in Toronto, suggesting the budget could involve efforts to simplify some tax matters. The Globe's Bill Curry writes that Canada, with its triple-A credit rating, has the fiscal room to make investments that support long-term economic growth, Mr. Champagne told the Canadian Club on Monday morning. But when pressed for more specifics during a brief question-and-answer session, Mr. Champagne said the budget will be "going further" on the small-business front. It's for entrepreneurs, innovators and creators, he said. Expectations were mounting that this year's budget would include new measures for small businesses. Bank of Nova Scotia economist Rebekah Young, a former Finance Department official, released a detailed report on Oct. 29 that said the budget could include a targeted tax review. She said the government could announce plans to study the various breaks known as tax expenditures. Such a review would fall short of the broad tax reform many business groups and economists have long called for.