Carney Must Present A Plan For His Exorbitant Spending

Ottawa, ON – Last night, the House of Commons voted for a Conservative amendment urging the Liberal government to introduce a budget before the House rises for the summer. This comes after Mark Carney proposed half a trillion dollars in government spending without a budget plan.

Despite Carney’s promise to cap operating spending to 2 percent, his proposal will increase total government spending by 8 percent—making him even more expensive than Trudeau. Under Carney, consultant spending will skyrocket 37 percent, costing Canadians $26 billion a year.

As the average family will need to pay $1,400 on consultants alone, the bloated bureaucracy will also grow an additional 6 percent—more than double the combined rate of inflation and population growth. All this extra spending on bureaucratic administration and high-priced consultants will cost Canadians, with higher debt, taxes and inflation.

Carney must present a budget outlining how he will pay for all this spending. He promised that he had a plan ready to go during the campaign—that a plan beats no plan. But now, only a month later, the Liberals have refused to introduce a real plan to unleash Canada’s economic potential.

We know the government can present a budget: after the 2008 election, the Harper government presented the 2009 budget three months later. Without a budget or economic update this spring, it will have been a year since Canadians got a clear look at the government’s finances. This will be the first time in decades, outside of COVID, that Canadians haven’t been able to see a budget.

For too long, Canadian workers, families and small businesses have been forced to carry this government on their backs. As they continue to face economic uncertainty, Canadians need a real plan that will lower the cost of government to lower the cost of living and put more money back into people’s pockets.

Mark Carney and the Liberals have a choice: they can return to the old Liberal pattern of dodging accountability and ignoring the will of Parliament just weeks into this minority government. Or they can respect this clear vote and introduce a budget this spring.

It’s time for the government to listen.