Canada must have a deadline for returning to budgetary balance
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this week that she didn’t want to set a deadline for the return to a balanced budget. The latest budget still projects deficits through to 2026-2027. But not having a timeframe for returning to budgetary balance is both dangerous and irresponsible.
With some observers starting to see risks of a recession on the horizon and interest rates beginning to rise, not having a plan to return quickly to a balanced budget is like not wanting to barricade one’s windows when a hurricane is about to make landfall. If Canada does not have strong financials when the next crisis hits, all Canadians will pay the price.
The federal government needs to balance the budget as quickly as possible in order to protect the Canadian economy from the storms to come. We need to get our heads out of the sand and start rebalancing the country’s public finances now.