QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Federal Deficit
March 20, 2024
Government leader, in a recent report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that he expects the NDP-Trudeau government’s deficit will be $46.8 billion for the current fiscal year. As well, a report released in February from Desjardins Securities estimated that the deficit for the current fiscal year will reach $50 billion. Desjardins said higher government spending is “. . . almost singularly responsible for the erosion of the federal fiscal forecast. . . .” Leader, just a few short months ago, Minister Freeland’s Fall Economic Statement said the deficit would be $40 billion. Does your government still stand by that figure?
I don’t have any current information about changes to the government’s projections. I am, though — as we all are — looking forward to the upcoming budget, which will contain measures to address the challenges that Canadians continue to face with regard to affordability, cost of food, housing and so on.
It is encouraging that — as the government projected — the rate of inflation continues to fall. It is encouraging that Canada is projected to have strong economic growth. As I mentioned yesterday, it is projected to have the strongest in the G7 in the year to come. All of that — though positive — does not change the fact that Canadians still struggle, and this government will continue to do what it can to help Canadians through difficult times.
When recently asked about the Trudeau government’s upcoming budget, the Governor of the Bank of Canada said:
If there are large spending increases ... that could start getting in the way of getting inflation back down to target on the timeline we’ve laid out.
Leader, will the Trudeau government pay any heed to this warning? Will your government fix the budget and rein in its wasteful spending?
The government does not accept the premise that its spending has been wasteful. Its spending has been to help Canadians through difficult times, as it did through the pandemic and continues to do through this transition. I’m not in a position to — and you would not expect me to be able to — comment on what may or may not be in the budget. But I have every confidence that the budget will reflect a practical, prudential and responsible approach to the economic circumstances the country faces.
