Carney missing his own budget target

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to cut spending following today’s Parliamentary Budget Officer report showing he’s on track to miss his own target of balancing the operating budget by 2028.

“Carney is continuing on a course of unaffordable borrowing and the PBO report raises serious questions about the prime minister’s own promise stop borrowing money to cover operational spending,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “The reality is the government is borrowing tens of billions of dollars every year and taxpayers pay interest on every borrowed dollar.”

Carney promised to “balance the operating budget by Budget 2028” during the 2025 election. Last week, Carney said his government is “one year ahead of schedule.”

However, today’s PBO report projects Carney missing that target.

“Based on the PBO-adjusted day-to-day operating balance, the government would not achieve its fiscal anchor of balancing operating spending with revenues by 2028-29,” according to the PBO.

The PBO again pointed out that the government is expanding traditional definitions of capital spending by including “corporate income tax expenditures, investment tax credits and operating (production) subsidies.”

The PBO notes that “federal spending on these measures would not be considered capital formation” in the United Kingdom’s frameworks. This spending also wouldn’t be included in “provincial capital budgets or that of Singapore, or additional comparator jurisdictions identified by the government of Canada.”

The government is borrowing $65 billion this year, according to the Spring Economic Update. The government has no plan to stop borrowing money. Debt interest charges will cost taxpayers $58.7 billion this year. That’s more than the federal government will send to the provinces in health transfers ($57.4 billion) or collect through the GST ($53.4 billion).

“Carney needs to put down the credit card because taxpayers can’t afford to pay more than $1 billion every week to cover interest on the debt,” Terrazzano said. “Instead of playing games with accounting labels, Carney needs to cut spending and debt.”

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For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact:

Franco Terrazzano
CTF Federal Director
Phone: 403.918.3532
Email: fterrazzano@taxpayer.com