Canadians have now heard for months the Liberals talking about the “new” federal government doing big things – many very big things – at speeds never seen before! This while deadline after deadline that Prime Minister Mark Carney himself set for goals such as a trade agreement with the U.S., the elimination of inter-provincial trade barriers or the reversal of the hemorrhaging of investment dollars out of Canada, have all passed with nothing achieved. The federal budget released this week is yet another indication that this Liberal government is anything but “new” and continues to follow the failed policies of the past that have done so much damage to Canadian businesses and Canadians in general.
Despite Carney’s talk about the need for austerity and making sacrifices, it’s clear the government won’t be making any. The budget was a spendapalooza, with massive new spending of $141 billion and a whopping great deficit for fiscal 2025-26 of over $78 billion. This is the highest annual deficit in Canadian history with the exception of the pandemic years. Although there are plans to cut back on the size of the federal government, the plans are too modest and rely mostly on attrition. Even if those plans are fully realized, which is unlikely, the government will still end up being larger than in the pre-Trudeau days. The fact that Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was putting out photos on social media celebrating the budget with fellow Liberals and colleagues at a lavish and boozy get together was a good indication that no “austerity” will be in store for Liberals, just the rest of us.
Some text in the budget would be downright hilarious if it wasn’t so ridiculous. On the topic of immigration, the budget said the government was going to “take back control of immigration.” Really? Who are they going to be taking it back from – their Liberal colleagues? Liberals have botched our immigration system and pretending someone else is at fault is just another whopping Liberal lie.
Following the budget, Champagne tried to explain the difference between “operating” and “investment” spending, an attempt in the budget to confuse people about deficit spending, by saying that food we buy is an operating expense whereas buying a house is an investment. He seems to forget that a house is an appreciating investment, whereas government debt is the exact reverse. Spending over $50 billion annually just to service the debt – a number predicted to rise to over $70 billion in the budget, shows that the only thing that’s growing is our debt hole. Let’s also recall that Champagne was the financial genius that boasted about the investment of tens of billions of our tax dollars in electric vehicle subsidies just a couple of years ago. As those “investments” crash and burn, Champagne doesn’t seem to talk about them much these days.
Another odd feature of the budget was a Conservative MP crossing the floor to the Liberals just after the budget was read. This particular MP had recently expressed concern over his own MP pension if he was defeated in an upcoming election, so his motives don’t appear to be pure. It’s well known in Ottawa that Liberals are working hard on convincing MPs of other parties to join their ranks as they are desperate for a majority government.
The reason for Carney prioritizing a push to get a majority was made clear this week as the Ethics Committee of Parliament is now looking into Carney’s personal finances, something that he has strenuously resisted in the past. Federal ethics rules are notoriously lax, but a parliamentary committee examining the issue can be expected to find truths that are currently hidden. The Ethics Committee recently asked that some senior executives from Brookfield, Carney’s former employer, appear before the Committee. Just this week, those declined to appear and suggested that a less senior Brookfield employee should appear in their place. It certainly seems like Carney has a great deal to hide given all of the push-back the Ethics Committee has received. If Carney were to obtain a majority government, Liberal MPs could dominate the Committee and quash any ongoing inquiry, as happened under the Trudeau government when opposition parties got a little too close to the truth of Liberal scandals. Canadians should hope this does not happen and that they will be able to find out about Carney’s possible conflicts of interest and how they could be influencing government decisions.
It is significant that there was no mention of a new pipeline for oil and gas in the budget. Indeed, although it looks as if the emissions cap on the fossil fuel industry will not come to pass, the “enhanced” industrial carbon tax and beefed-up methane regulations are still on the books, as well as the BC tanker ban and the impact assessment act. The majority of the measures throttling our oil and gas sector remain in place, indicating once again that this government continues to follow the game plan of the previous Liberal gang, many of whom still sit in Cabinet.
Of course, much blaming of U.S. President Donald Trump was also a feature of the budget. However, Trump has been in place for less than a year, while these Liberals have been around for more than a decade. Much damage was done to Canada long before Trump was even a consideration. Businesses continue to leave Canada in droves because of government policy that is making our economy uncompetitive with other jurisdictions, notably the U.S. The most common remark heard about the budget from business members of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses Canada that this author heads up was “I am so glad I am growing my business and jobs outside of Canada.”
The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, recently made the comment that unless something changes, Canadians should be prepared for a decline in their standard of living. In reality, our standard of living has been dropping for years because of bad Liberal policy that has constrained our economy and our incomes. But there is no reason Canadian living standards should further decline if our federal government takes the shackles off of our vital resource sector and permits its wealth potential to be realized. This terrible budget makes it clear that the “something that needs to change” to reverse Canada’s decline is a change of government.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
