Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Ottawa’s deficit for this year could soar past $80 billion, nearly double the $42.2 billion target promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.Speaking to reporters, Poilievre accused Finance Minister Mark Carney of hypocrisy, saying he has ramped up spending instead of tightening Ottawa’s belt. “Mark Carney without even introducing a budget might be as much as 100% above that,” he said. “Nobody should be talking about Mark Carney’s austerity. Everyone should be talking about his hypocrisy.”Blacklock's Reporter said cabinet has not introduced a 2025 budget, relying instead on a fall economic update from last December that forecast a $42.2 billion shortfall. .But the finance department has repeatedly missed its own projections, with the 2023 deficit coming in 55% higher than expected at $61.9 billion and the 2024 deficit at least 21% higher than predicted at $48.3 billion.“Mark Carney is even more expensive than Justin Trudeau, something we would have thought unimaginable,” Poilievre said, adding that Parliament has not balanced the books since 2007.Budget Officer Yves Giroux had already warned senators in June that Ottawa’s $42.2 billion projection was unrealistic, noting the absence of a spring budget left many numbers “still in flux.”.Poilievre said the answer lies in cutting government size and forcing discipline on spending. “We need to cut bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid, corporate welfare, handouts to phony and fraudulent refugees,” he said. “We need to bring in a dollar-for-dollar law that requires the government to find a dollar of savings for every new dollar of spending they bring in. That is how single mothers, small businesses and seniors balance their budgets.”
