15% CUTS: Chamber of Commerce wants Chretien-era austerity cutbacks on federal spending

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in a submission to the Commons Finance Committee urged Cabinet to cut spending 15%, the steepest cuts in 30 years.The figure represents the steepest cuts since then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s 1995 austerity program that eliminated 45,000 federal jobs, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.Major cuts in the ‘90s included foreign aid and CBC funding. “Review all government spending to make 15% in savings,” the Chamber wrote MPs. “The government must return Canada to a balanced budget. Departmental hiring and spending should be restrained through a government-wide review.”Federal spending next year is to top a half trillion, a total $534.6 billion, according to April 16 projections by the Department of Finance. A 15% reduction is equivalent to $80.2 billion, “Canadians are right to be concerned about our future,” wrote the Chamber. Parliament last balanced a budget in 2007.Chretien’s 1995 elimination of 45,000 jobs is the equivalent of 14% of the federal payroll. That year’s budget promised $7 in cuts for every dollar in higher taxes.“We are on the brink,” said then-Finance Minister Paul Martin at the time. Other measures included raising corporate taxes 12.5%, privatizing Canadian National Railways and the civil aviation authority NAV Canada and cutting dairy subsidies 30%.Cabinet also cut foreign aid 21%, abolished Crow Rate freight subsidies for Prairie grain growers that dated from 1897, cut transfers to the CBC and repealed a 1927 Maritime Freight Rates Act.The austerity drive saw the wind-up of 73 federal agencies, closure of all cabinet ministers’ regional offices, elimination of the Department of Consumer Affairs, imposition of a $975 immigration fee and replacement of the $2 banknote with cheaper coinage.The current cabinet has set no deadline for balancing the budget.“Our government’s approach is fiscally responsible,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland testified May 29 at the Senate National Finance Committee.“Have you lost control?” asked Sen. Claude Carignan, committee chair. “Certainly not,” replied Freeland.“You are saddling millennials and future generations with crippling debt,” said Senator Elizabeth Marshal.“You have lost the confidence of Canadians. You said this is your economic plan but there is nothing in the budget to address the suffering of Canadians.”Cabinet in three years has raised the federal debt ceiling by a trillion under the Borrowing Authority Act to $2.13 trillion, a record. Freeland in her April 16 budget themed “fairness for every generation” said “it would be irresponsible and unfair to pass more debt to the next generation.”.This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.