Carney urged to use budget as means to fulfil promises

P.M. should put his money where his mouth is when it comes to decreasing spending, growing economy, say experts from the NCC, CTF.

OTTAWA — With the glow of the newly minted Mark Carney PMO demonstrably fading, observers say it’s time for the prime minister to set Canada on a reasonable economic course.

With his first federal budget set to drop in two weeks, Alex Brown — a director with the National Citizens Coalition — told the Toronto Sun it’s time Carney puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to standing up to the United States.

“Carney was anointed, and then held onto the PMO, under what could be charitably described as false pretenses, as the self-feted only one who could stand up to Trump — a challenge no leader has yet to master,” Brown said.

“He promised policies that would ignite economic growth and to position Canada as the fastest-expanding economy in the G7 — and yet, with a long-delayed budget looming and alarm bells blaring on both the deficit and the failure to launch on major projects, a segment of his supporters surely expected Carney to better grasp that sustainable growth demands that government foster an environment conducive to private-sector investment.”

That, Brown said, means prioritizing major infrastructure projects like pipelines and taking decisive steps to generate new jobs — something that has yet to transpire.

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said that the onus is on Carney to decrease spending.

“After a decade of out-of-control spending, Carney’s budget will be a failure if he spends one dollar more than Trudeau,” Terrazzano said, suggesting Carney should start with Canada’s morbidly obese public service.

“Carney must take air out of Ottawa’s ballooning bureaucracy. The government added 99,000 extra bureaucrats and ballooned the cost of the bureaucracy 77% since 2016.”

Indications this week suggest that is advice Carney isn’t willing to heed.

On Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced plans to create a new financial crimes agency to investigate money laundering and online fraud — despite observers claiming the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) is already tasked with such duties.

“Carney must slash bureaucratic red tape and abandon the counterproductive fixation on indulgency payments to the green lobby — or this need to achieve endless consensus — that only serve to derail essential projects,” Brown said.

“He should make bold decisions to fast-track pipelines such as bypassing B.C. Premier David Eby’s disapproval, and remove barriers to investment, allowing capital to flow freely into supporting our abundant natural resources, which the world craves in ever-greater volumes.”

Terrazzano said the easiest way for government to make life easier for Canadians is to get out of the habit of repeatedly dipping into taxpayers’ pockets.

“Canadians need the government to go on a massive tax-cutting campaign and make the government more affordable,” he said.