Budget Officer Yves Giroux said the Trudeau government may have “lost control of its spending,” as the department of Finance forecasts half-trillion dollar budgets for the next several years with deficits until at least 2028.. Budget Officer Yves GirouxCourtesy CBC .“The government projects $500 billion in annual spending over the next two or three years,” Giroux testified at the Senate National Finance committee..“We are going over a psychological hurdle, a very large one.”.“Has the government lost control of its expenditures?” asked Sen. Clément Gignac (QC). .“This is a good point,” replied Giroux..“Has the government lost control of its spending? I don’t know if they have lost control, but I can certainly say expenditures are rising at a sustained rate,” said Giroux..“If you plot this on a graph and look at the trend, over the next three years we see the trend line going in one direction.”.“Was there enough wiggle room for unforeseen events?” asked Sen. Tony Loffreda (QC). .“With the level of spending the government is incurring, every time the government spends a bit more, it gives itself less and less flexibility to face unforeseen events such as a potential financial crisis,” replied Giroux..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Budget Officer also ridiculed claims that the government could save money by cutting travel expenses..Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in her March 28 budget, claimed she could save $14 billion through painless cuts in internal spending like travel..“Those savings will come from government operations,” Freeland told reporters on March 28..“I think those savings are eminently obtainable … really important to be a fiscally responsible government.”.Giroux yesterday expressed skepticism..“With successive governments having announced reductions in travel expenditures, if we followed all these commitments throughout the years, the Ottawa airport should be closed by now,” said Giroux..“It’s still open.”.Parliament has not balanced a budget since 2007. In 2022, Freeland promised strict spending controls with “our fiscal anchor, a line we will not cross” as a declining ratio of debt-to-GDP..The debt-to-GDP pledge was a long-standing cabinet promise. Then-Prosperity Minister Mona Fortier in 2020 testimony at the Commons Finance committee called it a “guiding principle” of the treasury..“The first one is to reduce the government’s debt as a function of our economy in the long term,” said Fortier..This year’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to increase..Interest charges on the national debt will cost $43.9 billion this year, according to the budget A Made in Canada Plan. It represents a $19.5 billion increase from the pre-pandemic rate of $24.4 billion, an 80% increase.
