Trudeau Stimulus Plan Puts Canada C$120 Billion Into the Red

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will run deficits totaling almost C$120 billion ($91.7 billion) over six years, offering some stimulus to Canada’s struggling economy while trying to exercise restraint. Trudeau’s government will add C$11 billion in annual spending for the fiscal year that begins April 1, which will result in a projected deficit of C$29.4 billion for the coming year. The federal budget offers no projected return to balance over five years. That cumulative deficit, which far exceeds what Trudeau promised in last year’s election campaign, stems from the worsening outlook his Liberals inherited even as they rejected calls for major new stimulus. It also marks a shift for Canada, which was home to an anti-deficit orthodoxy for three decades. More...