Seems he’ll be starting with healthcare, given past comments and lack of support for dental and pharma (and those ARE healthcare). He usually complains about the public service so he’ll probably fire some people. Privatization and selling off important assets are standard conservative tactics.
gohomebrentyourdrunk on
So federal governments gonna destroy everything to reach a number, taxes will be the same, the carbon rebate will be gone and most Canadians will continue to suffer under conservative premiers.
Really looking forward to that.
Godzilla52 on
The manner of deficit generally matters more than the existence of a deficit itself. One of the reasons the debt & deficits in the 80s and 90s were so bad was because of the Pierre Trudeau era debt servicing costs that were increasingly eating away at the government’s ability to finance new & existing expenditures. Even when the operating budgets were consistently balanced for almost a decade between 1987-1996, that period accounted for massive deficits, entirely due to servicing costs.
There’s valid concerns about Ottawa’s ability to sustain prolonged periods of high deficit spending going forward and it would be nice to see Ottawa find a pathway to return to balance at some point, but it also has to be factored in that federal debt to GDP ratio has held up fairly well over the past 15-16 years despite going through the global financial crisis, the global commodities crash and now the COVID & post COVID economies. so while there are issues that obviously need addressing. Poilievre shouldn’t just use balancing the budget as an excuse for austerity budgets when the debt & deficit aren’t in dire enough straights to warrant them.
Conservatives have never once in Canadian history, managed to decrease the public debt. Liberals have done it once or twice, and NDP has never had the opportunity.
When even the Fraser Institute can’t spin the data in favour of Conservatives…
This idea that Conservatives are fiscally responsible and good at paying down the debt is a collective mass delusion.
Mundane-Teaching-743 on
It’s a better pitch than Harper’s promise in 2006 that he’ll always balance the budget no matte what. That backfired after 2008 when he had to turn in 5 consecutive years with record-breaking deficits. It’s dangerous to make promises you can’t keep.
UnionGuyCanada on
Cut Dentalcare, cut Pharmacare and download more costs on provinces and municipalities, same thing Harper did. Then cut more programs and download more costs so you can cut taxes for the rich.
He won’t say it out loud but he also won’t commit to not doing, so that says all you need to know.
Tory times are hard times, except for the rich.
TheRobfather420 on
Surely Conservative voters will treat this statement with the same hostility as they treated Trudeau when he claimed the same thing right? Lol
iamtayareyoutaytoo on
“I will punish your enemies and make all your hopes and dreams come true, I promise.”
Awesome, thanks pal.
The danger, of course, is that these people are likely to eat him if he doesn’t, like they did Jason Kenney. And then you end up with an actual crazy person in charge using tax dollars to build for-profit private christian schools.
grumpy_herbivore on
He doesn’t give details for anything.
I want to know how he will “stop crime” like I keep hearing him claim on the radio.
Majestic-Platypus753 on
The Liberals have tossed a pile of unsustainable spending on the table as they lose power, in an attempt to claim “Poilievre will take it away”.
The truth is we could never afford all this spending, considering the massive debt we’ve amassed.
Further, he hasn’t announced his cuts – you can expect to see that during the election. Releasing it a year early would give too much time to opponents to critique, position and copy elements of it. Of course it’s not released.
It may not be what some people like to hear, but that’s how it is. Downvote away.
ChrisRiley_42 on
A budget isn’t balanced until your expenses and income match
**AND** all your needs are met.
Not paying bills to pretend you balanced the budget is just paying one credit card off using another.
No Conservative government has ever balanced a budget, because they conveniently forget that last bit.
ApoplecticAndroid on
So they will cut the programs we actually need, then complain the liberals left such a mess, they won’t be able to balance the budget, and carry that message all the way to the following election.
12 Comments
Seems he’ll be starting with healthcare, given past comments and lack of support for dental and pharma (and those ARE healthcare). He usually complains about the public service so he’ll probably fire some people. Privatization and selling off important assets are standard conservative tactics.
So federal governments gonna destroy everything to reach a number, taxes will be the same, the carbon rebate will be gone and most Canadians will continue to suffer under conservative premiers.
Really looking forward to that.
The manner of deficit generally matters more than the existence of a deficit itself. One of the reasons the debt & deficits in the 80s and 90s were so bad was because of the Pierre Trudeau era debt servicing costs that were increasingly eating away at the government’s ability to finance new & existing expenditures. Even when the operating budgets were consistently balanced for almost a decade between 1987-1996, that period accounted for massive deficits, entirely due to servicing costs.
There’s valid concerns about Ottawa’s ability to sustain prolonged periods of high deficit spending going forward and it would be nice to see Ottawa find a pathway to return to balance at some point, but it also has to be factored in that federal debt to GDP ratio has held up fairly well over the past 15-16 years despite going through the global financial crisis, the global commodities crash and now the COVID & post COVID economies. so while there are issues that obviously need addressing. Poilievre shouldn’t just use balancing the budget as an excuse for austerity budgets when the debt & deficit aren’t in dire enough straights to warrant them.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/examining-federal-debt-in-canada-by-prime-ministers-since-confederation-2022.pdf
Relevant graphs on Page 6 and 8.
Conservatives have never once in Canadian history, managed to decrease the public debt. Liberals have done it once or twice, and NDP has never had the opportunity.
When even the Fraser Institute can’t spin the data in favour of Conservatives…
This idea that Conservatives are fiscally responsible and good at paying down the debt is a collective mass delusion.
It’s a better pitch than Harper’s promise in 2006 that he’ll always balance the budget no matte what. That backfired after 2008 when he had to turn in 5 consecutive years with record-breaking deficits. It’s dangerous to make promises you can’t keep.
Cut Dentalcare, cut Pharmacare and download more costs on provinces and municipalities, same thing Harper did. Then cut more programs and download more costs so you can cut taxes for the rich.
He won’t say it out loud but he also won’t commit to not doing, so that says all you need to know.
Tory times are hard times, except for the rich.
Surely Conservative voters will treat this statement with the same hostility as they treated Trudeau when he claimed the same thing right? Lol
“I will punish your enemies and make all your hopes and dreams come true, I promise.”
Awesome, thanks pal.
The danger, of course, is that these people are likely to eat him if he doesn’t, like they did Jason Kenney. And then you end up with an actual crazy person in charge using tax dollars to build for-profit private christian schools.
He doesn’t give details for anything.
I want to know how he will “stop crime” like I keep hearing him claim on the radio.
The Liberals have tossed a pile of unsustainable spending on the table as they lose power, in an attempt to claim “Poilievre will take it away”.
The truth is we could never afford all this spending, considering the massive debt we’ve amassed.
Further, he hasn’t announced his cuts – you can expect to see that during the election. Releasing it a year early would give too much time to opponents to critique, position and copy elements of it. Of course it’s not released.
It may not be what some people like to hear, but that’s how it is. Downvote away.
A budget isn’t balanced until your expenses and income match
**AND** all your needs are met.
Not paying bills to pretend you balanced the budget is just paying one credit card off using another.
No Conservative government has ever balanced a budget, because they conveniently forget that last bit.
So they will cut the programs we actually need, then complain the liberals left such a mess, they won’t be able to balance the budget, and carry that message all the way to the following election.
Meanwhile, the deficit will grow even more.