PBO Says Carney Spending “Unsustainable”
Ottawa, ON – Yesterday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) issued a stark warning that Carney’s spending was ‘unsustainable.’ It was backed up by the PBO’s latest report, finding that the government has broken past even Trudeau’s fiscal guardrails, with the deficit increasing to $68.5 billion this year.
Mark Carney has broken the promise he made to Canadians to “spend less” and build the “fastest growing economy in the G7.” Instead, Canadians have already seen 8% more spending than under Trudeau and the fastest-shrinking economy in the G7: all before he’s even tabled his first budget.
The PBO’s estimate excludes major announcements, including increased spending on defence, along with the $13 billion for Carney’s new housing bureaucracy, so the real deficit number could be even higher. Meanwhile, the PBO’s Director of Fiscal Analysis confirmed “there’s about $20 billion or so in spending that has not yet been included in our outlook from the Liberal platforms.”
The PBO told a parliamentary committee that “this is not a funny fiscal outlook. It’s a really serious fiscal outlook. We don’t lightly use the word ‘unsustainable.’ Unsustainable means you don’t have the option of saying, ‘Maybe I’ll wait a couple of years, I’ll see how things go.’ It means if you don’t change, this is done.”
He went on to say, “this is the first time in 30 years we’ve tabled an economic and fiscal outlook where the fiscal anchor … of a declining or at least stable debt-to-GDP ratio … is going up over time.”
The PBO report concludes with a projection that “the Government’s borrowing requirements will begin to exceed the maximum amount in 2026‑27” as the debt crosses the $2 trillion mark. The PBO bluntly told Canadians, “the government will need to make choices to either raise revenues or cut spending in order to stop … this unsustainable path that we’re on.”
Already, the Liberals are spending more on interest payments for their debt than on healthcare. After breaking every fiscal anchor, Carney must come clean with his numbers and not hide his massive deficits and rising debt from Canadians.
Every dollar Mark Carney spends is one fewer in the pockets of Canadians. Every dollar he adds to the debt and deficit drives up the cost of living, from the grocery store to rent and mortgages.
Taxpayers cannot afford another bait-and-switch from the Liberals. Conservatives will hold the government to account for breaking their commitments and fight to restore Canada’s promise of stronger take-home pay and lower taxes.