Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has called on the federal Liberals to present a plan to return to a balanced budget and end what he describes as “credit card budgeting.” In a letter sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of Tuesday’s economic update, Poilievre outlined several proposals to trim the federal budget, which was projected to reach $78.3 billion in the last fiscal year.
The letter, posted to social media on Sunday afternoon, also criticized Carney’s fiscal record, calling him the “costliest prime minister in our history.” Poilievre stated, “It is no wonder people cannot afford food, fuel and homes under your Liberal government. The more you spend, the more things cost. Your money-printing deficits and high fuel costs fund your reckless spending and drive up the cost of everything people buy.”
Majority to Become Official This Week
Poilievre’s letter arrives ahead of a busy week on Parliament Hill, which includes Tuesday’s fiscal outlook and the swearing-in of three Liberal MPs who won byelections earlier this month. This will give the Liberals a 174-seat majority in the House of Commons. The spring update is expected to provide insight into how new spending items, measures to counter the nation’s economic reliance on the U.S., and the impact of the war in the Middle East are affecting the government’s finances.
“We’re starting to shift things, but we’re in no way satisfied,” Carney said on Thursday, via The Canadian Press. “We’re just getting started.”
‘Are We Getting Value for Money?’
Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page told The Canadian Press that there are expectations the government must show results from its spending priorities, such as “nation-building” projects and efforts to attract foreign investment. Page expressed particular interest in how increased defence spending and the newly created Major Projects Office are affecting Canada’s fiscal health. “There’s some transparency pressures on the government,” said Page, president and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa. “What is the plan? How is it changing the overall fiscal picture? Are we getting value for money on some of that?”
While Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne touted affordability measures like an increase in the GST benefit for low-income households and the decision to cut the excise tax on fuel, Poilievre contended that other policies have had the opposite effect. “The consequence is that your government’s interest payments on the national debt are now higher than what you spend on health-care transfers and National Defence and more than you collect in GST,” he wrote. “Every penny people pay in federal sales tax now goes to bankers and bondholders, not to doctors and nurses. Your record is more cost, more debt, more taxes and more of the same.”
Poilievre Pitches Cost-Cutting Measures
Poilievre listed several cost-cutting measures as part of his plan to return to a balanced budget in the “medium term.” These include axing the $90-billion Alto high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City, scrapping the “Liberal gun grab,” cutting back on the nearly $20 billion spent on consultants in 2024-25, and reducing spending on the federal bureaucracy, which he said will hit $65.8 billion this year. “Cutting bureaucracy, consultants, corporate welfare, foreign aid, handouts to fake refugees and tax havens can bring down debt, taxes and inflation,” Poilievre said.
— With files from The Canadian Press
