Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals shot past their self-imposed guardrails by more than $20 billion dollars, with a $61.9 billion deficit in the 2023-2024 Fall Economic Statement. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from her cabinet role Monday morning, hours before she was scheduled to present the update. She resigned after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday told her he didn’t want her in the role anymore. Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in to replace Freeland as finance minister Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. MST. .UPDATED: Freeland resigns from cabinet, Fall Economic Statement on hold.Trudeau has yet to comment on Freeland’s resignation, nor did he show up for Question Period, despite being in Ottawa. He did chair the closed-door Liberal caucus meeting this morning, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), but he was not spotted by reporters on Parliament Hill.Tory leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday addressed reporters and called on Liberal voters to see the common sense of his party juxtaposed with the chaos from the Liberals.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters before Question Period, and also during Question Period, that Trudeau needs to resign. However, when pressed on whether he, as the only one in Canada in the position to do so, would topple the government with a non-confidence vote, Singh remained vague.“All options are on the table,” he said..‘CREDIBILITY SHREDDED’: Freeland facing increasing pressure over debt.Government House Leader Karina Gould tabled the 270 page Fall Economic Statement in Freeland’s place, which touts itself as economically victorious, according to CTV.Freeland early promised to not let the deficit surpass $40.1 billion in this year’s statement — which is months later than cabinet normally presents the statement.The document congratulates itself on being the first G7 nation where the central bank cut interest rates and that inflation “anchored” at 2% — due to “the government’s prudent fiscal management,” states the document.Liberals in the statement also insisted they will reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio as Freeland had repeatedly promised.“(The) economy has achieved a soft landing,” wrote the Liberals' in their statement, pointing out their economic success even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.“Amid global economic uncertainty, the government’s economic plan has laid a strong foundation to drive growth now and in the years to come.”The Liberals' economic “plan” is divided into four key pillars:Generational investments, including childcare and dental careSecuring Canada’s AI advantageOvercoming geopolitical risks and uncertaintyInvestments for the industrial transition, including critical minerals..Trudeau’s ‘GST holiday’ doubles federal budget hole.Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Franco Terrazzano told the Western Standard, “Trudeau said he had a guardrail in place to keep Canada’s finances safe and he just drove the deficit right through it.”“After blowing through yet another guardrail, the Fall Economic Statement is proof Trudeau isn’t serious about managing our finances and doesn’t care about fiscal responsibility,” said Terrazzano.“Interest charges on the government credit card are costing taxpayers more than $1 billion every week. Years of massive deficits mean the government is wasting more money on debt interest charges than it’s sending to the provinces in health transfers.”“Trudeau has lost control of the finances and Canadians, their kids and grandkids will be paying the price for years to come.”“Canadians can’t afford to keep paying for a reckless government in Ottawa, Canadians need our federal government to cut spending and balance the budget.”.WATCH: Liberals brag about upcoming Fall Economic Statement.Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at the Montreal Economic Institute said, “It’s no wonder Trudeau hesitated to release the fall budget update; this government can’t even adhere to the most modest fiscal restraint target that it set for itself.”“Not only is this year’s deficit significantly higher than projected back in April, but the Trudeau government also broke the promise it made to Canadians that last year’s shortfall wouldn’t exceed $40.1 billion,” said Faubert in a statement sent to the Western Standard.“Since this government first came to power, the size of the federal bureaucracy has grown by over 100,000 employees.”“As you can imagine, all these new bureaucrats come with a large price tag, which contributes to these chronic deficits.”“Ottawa’s problem isn’t a lack of revenues, but rather that it can’t keep the growth of its spending in check. That much is exemplified by the capital gains tax hike, which has done very little to help federal finances, but will also make it that much harder to attract investment into our country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals shot past their self-imposed guardrails by more than $20 billion dollars, with a $61.9 billion deficit in the 2023-2024 Fall Economic Statement. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from her cabinet role Monday morning, hours before she was scheduled to present the update. She resigned after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday told her he didn’t want her in the role anymore. Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in to replace Freeland as finance minister Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. MST. .UPDATED: Freeland resigns from cabinet, Fall Economic Statement on hold.Trudeau has yet to comment on Freeland’s resignation, nor did he show up for Question Period, despite being in Ottawa. He did chair the closed-door Liberal caucus meeting this morning, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), but he was not spotted by reporters on Parliament Hill.Tory leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday addressed reporters and called on Liberal voters to see the common sense of his party juxtaposed with the chaos from the Liberals.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters before Question Period, and also during Question Period, that Trudeau needs to resign. However, when pressed on whether he, as the only one in Canada in the position to do so, would topple the government with a non-confidence vote, Singh remained vague.“All options are on the table,” he said..‘CREDIBILITY SHREDDED’: Freeland facing increasing pressure over debt.Government House Leader Karina Gould tabled the 270 page Fall Economic Statement in Freeland’s place, which touts itself as economically victorious, according to CTV.Freeland early promised to not let the deficit surpass $40.1 billion in this year’s statement — which is months later than cabinet normally presents the statement.The document congratulates itself on being the first G7 nation where the central bank cut interest rates and that inflation “anchored” at 2% — due to “the government’s prudent fiscal management,” states the document.Liberals in the statement also insisted they will reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio as Freeland had repeatedly promised.“(The) economy has achieved a soft landing,” wrote the Liberals' in their statement, pointing out their economic success even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.“Amid global economic uncertainty, the government’s economic plan has laid a strong foundation to drive growth now and in the years to come.”The Liberals' economic “plan” is divided into four key pillars:Generational investments, including childcare and dental careSecuring Canada’s AI advantageOvercoming geopolitical risks and uncertaintyInvestments for the industrial transition, including critical minerals..Trudeau’s ‘GST holiday’ doubles federal budget hole.Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Franco Terrazzano told the Western Standard, “Trudeau said he had a guardrail in place to keep Canada’s finances safe and he just drove the deficit right through it.”“After blowing through yet another guardrail, the Fall Economic Statement is proof Trudeau isn’t serious about managing our finances and doesn’t care about fiscal responsibility,” said Terrazzano.“Interest charges on the government credit card are costing taxpayers more than $1 billion every week. Years of massive deficits mean the government is wasting more money on debt interest charges than it’s sending to the provinces in health transfers.”“Trudeau has lost control of the finances and Canadians, their kids and grandkids will be paying the price for years to come.”“Canadians can’t afford to keep paying for a reckless government in Ottawa, Canadians need our federal government to cut spending and balance the budget.”.WATCH: Liberals brag about upcoming Fall Economic Statement.Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at the Montreal Economic Institute said, “It’s no wonder Trudeau hesitated to release the fall budget update; this government can’t even adhere to the most modest fiscal restraint target that it set for itself.”“Not only is this year’s deficit significantly higher than projected back in April, but the Trudeau government also broke the promise it made to Canadians that last year’s shortfall wouldn’t exceed $40.1 billion,” said Faubert in a statement sent to the Western Standard.“Since this government first came to power, the size of the federal bureaucracy has grown by over 100,000 employees.”“As you can imagine, all these new bureaucrats come with a large price tag, which contributes to these chronic deficits.”“Ottawa’s problem isn’t a lack of revenues, but rather that it can’t keep the growth of its spending in check. That much is exemplified by the capital gains tax hike, which has done very little to help federal finances, but will also make it that much harder to attract investment into our country.