“Our economic plan is working.”That was the message from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who delivered her fall fiscal update in the House of Commons on Tuesday.Despite preaching austerity, Freeland lavished more money on a long list of Liberal pet projects, including EV battery factories, child care and housing assistance for renters. That’s despite the fact the government will be shelling out about 10 cents on every dollar — $52.4 billion a year compared to an initial estimate of $46 billion — on interest to service the debt.“We are making a conscious decision to avoid pouring fuel on the fire of inflation — thus doing our part to ensure that interest rates can fall as soon as possible, which is the number one priority for millions of Canadians today,” she said in the intro to the update document..“We are making a conscious decision to avoid pouring fuel on the fire of inflation.”Chrystia Freeland.That number will steadily rise to well over $53.3 billion by next year and approach $60 billion by 2027. The cumulative number would be enough to double Canada’s military, commentators noted.Flanked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, they described the plan as a ‘balancing act’ despite the painful truth that it has never balanced the budget since the Liberals were elected in 2015. In fact, it inherited a balanced budget eight years ago..Even more money was tossed at housing: $15 billion in new loan financing from next year to spur apartment construction; an extra $1 billion over three years to fund affordable housing and new mortgage rules for lenders dealing with homeowners at risk amid high interest rates.Also included were vague measures to clamp down on so-called ‘short-term rental’ outfits like AirBnB by denying income tax deductions. The Liberals also vowed to crack down on grocery giants with unspecified moves to promote more competition and battle ‘shrinkflation.’In all, it added $15.7 billion in new spending over the next six years, offset by a $2.5 billion in public sector cuts.Speaking in the House, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre blasted the Liberals for causing the affordability crisis in the first place through out of control spending that have caused interest rates to spike to 20 year highs.Not only does it have a direct impact on government deficits, it also adversely affect $900 billion worth of mortgages that renew within the next three years. That’s not withstanding the impact of higher taxes, including a quadrupling of the carbon tax.For those reasons he said the Conservatives would vote ‘no confidence’ to any budget bill, when it comes.“A year ago, this finance minister told her how she had the budget balanced by the year 2028. In that time, she has announced $100 billion of additional debt above and beyond having doubled that debt in the first place,” he said..That is why the Conservatives, guided by common sense, will vote against and non-confidence in this government.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.“And now, her solution, another $20 billion of inflationary spending. This after the governor of the Bank of Canada, has said that deficits are adding two full percentage points to mortgage rates on the backs of Canadians.” .The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to rein in spending and cut taxes following the release of the 2023 fiscal update. “This is the first time this government is starting to recognize reality, but spending is still billions higher than last year and the deficit is bigger,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “This budget update proves the government must cut spending because interest charges on the federal debt already cost taxpayers almost $4 billion a month.” The budget update shows spending will be $488.7 billion this year. That’s up from last year’s spending of $473.5 billion. The deficit is increasing from $35 billion to $40 billion this year. There is no plan to balance the budget.“Interest charges on the government credit card will cost each Canadian an average of more than $1,000 this year,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers are losing out on almost $4 billion every month that can’t be used to improve services or lower taxes because that money is going to the bond fund managers just to cover the government’s debt interest charges.”The debt will grow to $1.2 trillion by the end of 2023. Interest on the debt will cost $46.5 billion this year.The fiscal update didn’t include any significant tax relief.“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t saving Canadians money on their taxes,” Terrazzano said. “Trudeau won’t even do the simple things to save taxpayers money like ending his undemocratic alcohol tax escalator or taking the carbon tax off everyone’s home heating bills.“The budget update is an admission that the government has a spending problem, but Trudeau still isn’t serious about managing our finances or providing real tax relief.”
“Our economic plan is working.”That was the message from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who delivered her fall fiscal update in the House of Commons on Tuesday.Despite preaching austerity, Freeland lavished more money on a long list of Liberal pet projects, including EV battery factories, child care and housing assistance for renters. That’s despite the fact the government will be shelling out about 10 cents on every dollar — $52.4 billion a year compared to an initial estimate of $46 billion — on interest to service the debt.“We are making a conscious decision to avoid pouring fuel on the fire of inflation — thus doing our part to ensure that interest rates can fall as soon as possible, which is the number one priority for millions of Canadians today,” she said in the intro to the update document..“We are making a conscious decision to avoid pouring fuel on the fire of inflation.”Chrystia Freeland.That number will steadily rise to well over $53.3 billion by next year and approach $60 billion by 2027. The cumulative number would be enough to double Canada’s military, commentators noted.Flanked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, they described the plan as a ‘balancing act’ despite the painful truth that it has never balanced the budget since the Liberals were elected in 2015. In fact, it inherited a balanced budget eight years ago..Even more money was tossed at housing: $15 billion in new loan financing from next year to spur apartment construction; an extra $1 billion over three years to fund affordable housing and new mortgage rules for lenders dealing with homeowners at risk amid high interest rates.Also included were vague measures to clamp down on so-called ‘short-term rental’ outfits like AirBnB by denying income tax deductions. The Liberals also vowed to crack down on grocery giants with unspecified moves to promote more competition and battle ‘shrinkflation.’In all, it added $15.7 billion in new spending over the next six years, offset by a $2.5 billion in public sector cuts.Speaking in the House, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre blasted the Liberals for causing the affordability crisis in the first place through out of control spending that have caused interest rates to spike to 20 year highs.Not only does it have a direct impact on government deficits, it also adversely affect $900 billion worth of mortgages that renew within the next three years. That’s not withstanding the impact of higher taxes, including a quadrupling of the carbon tax.For those reasons he said the Conservatives would vote ‘no confidence’ to any budget bill, when it comes.“A year ago, this finance minister told her how she had the budget balanced by the year 2028. In that time, she has announced $100 billion of additional debt above and beyond having doubled that debt in the first place,” he said..That is why the Conservatives, guided by common sense, will vote against and non-confidence in this government.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.“And now, her solution, another $20 billion of inflationary spending. This after the governor of the Bank of Canada, has said that deficits are adding two full percentage points to mortgage rates on the backs of Canadians.” .The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to rein in spending and cut taxes following the release of the 2023 fiscal update. “This is the first time this government is starting to recognize reality, but spending is still billions higher than last year and the deficit is bigger,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “This budget update proves the government must cut spending because interest charges on the federal debt already cost taxpayers almost $4 billion a month.” The budget update shows spending will be $488.7 billion this year. That’s up from last year’s spending of $473.5 billion. The deficit is increasing from $35 billion to $40 billion this year. There is no plan to balance the budget.“Interest charges on the government credit card will cost each Canadian an average of more than $1,000 this year,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers are losing out on almost $4 billion every month that can’t be used to improve services or lower taxes because that money is going to the bond fund managers just to cover the government’s debt interest charges.”The debt will grow to $1.2 trillion by the end of 2023. Interest on the debt will cost $46.5 billion this year.The fiscal update didn’t include any significant tax relief.“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t saving Canadians money on their taxes,” Terrazzano said. “Trudeau won’t even do the simple things to save taxpayers money like ending his undemocratic alcohol tax escalator or taking the carbon tax off everyone’s home heating bills.“The budget update is an admission that the government has a spending problem, but Trudeau still isn’t serious about managing our finances or providing real tax relief.”
