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Trudeau’s $1 billion surplus now a $26.6 billion deficit
Canada's Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivers the fiscal update in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2019.Blair Gable / Reuters
Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Monday added another chapter to the book of fairy tale accounting authored by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he was elected in 2015.
During that election, Trudeau promised — not predicted, promised during one of the televised leaders’ debates — that the Canadian government under his leadership would have a $1 billion surplus this year.
Instead, Morneau’s economic update puts the deficit at $26.6 billion this year and $28.1 billion next year, before gradually shrinking to $11.6 billion in 2024-25, meaning five more years of double-digit deficits with no balanced budgets in sight.
Despite ongoing tensions in global trade and economic weakness in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Moreau said he does not believe Canada is heading into a recession, based on the experts the government consults.
Last month’s loss of 71,000 jobs in the Canadian economy should be weighed against the fact unemployment is at historic lows, he said, with 400,000 jobs created this year, and one million jobs since the Liberals took power in 2015.
Wages for the average Canadian worker are growing faster than inflation, he said, and 2019 could end up being the strongest year for wage growth in Canada in almost a decade.
Morneau said although he doesn’t believe there will be a recession in Canada in the foreseeable future, the Canadian economy is well-positioned to deal with one if it happens.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre disagreed.
He said Canada faces “the prospect of a made-in-Canada recession” because of the Trudeau government’s policies of recklessly piling on debt year after year and creating “devastating” government red tape, which has slowed to a crawl vital infrastructure projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline.
For now, Canadians have no choice but to hope that Trudeau’s ability to predict recessions, is a lot better than his ability to predict deficits.
Read the feature rich experience
- BY LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: DEC 16, 2019
Canada's Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivers the fiscal update in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2019.Blair Gable / Reuters
Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Monday added another chapter to the book of fairy tale accounting authored by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he was elected in 2015.
During that election, Trudeau promised — not predicted, promised during one of the televised leaders’ debates — that the Canadian government under his leadership would have a $1 billion surplus this year.
Instead, Morneau’s economic update puts the deficit at $26.6 billion this year and $28.1 billion next year, before gradually shrinking to $11.6 billion in 2024-25, meaning five more years of double-digit deficits with no balanced budgets in sight.
Despite ongoing tensions in global trade and economic weakness in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Moreau said he does not believe Canada is heading into a recession, based on the experts the government consults.
Last month’s loss of 71,000 jobs in the Canadian economy should be weighed against the fact unemployment is at historic lows, he said, with 400,000 jobs created this year, and one million jobs since the Liberals took power in 2015.
Wages for the average Canadian worker are growing faster than inflation, he said, and 2019 could end up being the strongest year for wage growth in Canada in almost a decade.
Morneau said although he doesn’t believe there will be a recession in Canada in the foreseeable future, the Canadian economy is well-positioned to deal with one if it happens.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre disagreed.
He said Canada faces “the prospect of a made-in-Canada recession” because of the Trudeau government’s policies of recklessly piling on debt year after year and creating “devastating” government red tape, which has slowed to a crawl vital infrastructure projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline.
For now, Canadians have no choice but to hope that Trudeau’s ability to predict recessions, is a lot better than his ability to predict deficits.
Read the feature rich experience
