With three years left in their mandate, there’s still time for the Trudeau government to right the fiscal ship, clamp down on waste, and get serious about transparency laws
The Trudeau Government One Year In: Not So Sunny Ways
This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun on November 4th, 2016)
This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa will mark its first year in office. From the standpoint of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation – a group that fights for low taxes (and prudent spending), less waste and accountable government – what does the Trudeau government record look like so far?
On taxes and spending, the main bright spot for the Trudeau Liberals is their cut to the middle income tax bracket from 22 to 20.5 per cent, which will benefit millions of Canadian families. Unfortunately, this welcome move is largely outweighed by a long list of bad fiscal decisions. First, the government broke its own deficit and balanced budget pledges in spectacular fashion, tripling its promised $10-billion deficit to $30 billion, with Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fall fiscal update suggesting deficits will be even bigger than originally predicted. Add in a rising debt-to-GDP ratio and the fact that the government has presented no plan to get the budget back to balance, and Canadians could be forgiven for fearing that the new government does not have a solid grip on rising public spending.
