(Ottawa) Uncontrolled spending, repeated deficits, sharp increases in the interest burden on the debt, lack of fiscal discipline: Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland was the target of a barrage of criticism from Conservative MPs when she appeared before the Treasury Committee on Tuesday.
Such was the hostility of the elected Conservatives that MMe Freeland eventually blurted out that when she was in charge of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the Donald Trump administration’s negotiators, she learned that it was a mistake to “appease a tyrant.”
The minister was asked to defend the Trudeau government’s management of public finances before the finance committee. The committee has been reviewing Bill C-47 to implement the March 28 federal budget for the past few weeks.
This budget envisages new spending, including actions totaling nearly $80 billion over the next few years, to attract companies looking to invest in and compete with the energy transitionInflation Reduction Law the Biden administration in Washington. The Conservative Party has criticized Justin Trudeau’s Liberals for increasing spending again and indefinitely postponing the return to balanced budgets.
Echoing some of the issues raised by his leader Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan accuses Chrystia Freeland of misleading Canadians when it forecast a return to balanced budgets in five years’ time in its economic update last fall Years.
He also argued that the minister fueled the inflationary fire by increasing spending by more than $60 billion in her recent budget.
“Their government spending is still fueling inflation. Today it’s up again,” Hallan said, referring to Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report in April.
These remarks sparked a series of heated arguments between the minister and the four Conservative MPs who sit on the committee.
Canadians “are smarter”
Keep calm, sirMe Freeland argued that Canadians are “smarter” and well aware that “it’s the conservatives who are trying to mislead them” by setting aside Canada’s strong economy and enviable fiscal position, which she believes Canada is in compared to the other G7 located countries.
“In terms of fiscal responsibility, Canada has the lowest deficit of the G7 countries. “The state of Canada’s public finances has been assessed by the people who matter, the credit rating agencies,” Ms. saidMe Freeland before being interrupted a few times by her Conservative counterpart.
“We will move on to another question because the minister does not want to answer it,” MP Jasraj Singh Hallan finally dropped. “I have a simple question for you. When will the budget be balanced? I just want the date! »
“As I have already indicated, Conservatives do not seem ready to hear any substantive answers. There was a question about inflation. It is important to let Canadians know that inflation has fallen steadily to 4.4% from a peak of 8.1% in June,” the minister said.
“She doesn’t answer questions,” complained Mr. Hallan. The minister later refused to specify the interest Canada will pay on the accumulated debt over the next year, despite the insistence of Conservative MP Adam Chambers. In the most recent budget, these costs are estimated at US$43.9 billion.
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