PBO report questions need for Liberals' planned stimulus spending
BNN Bloomberg
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving no indications of plans to rein in government spending after a critical report by the parliamentary budget officer questioned the Liberals' case to spend tens of billions in planned stimulus.
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving no indications of plans to rein in government spending after a critical report by the parliamentary budget officer questioned the Liberals' case to spend tens of billions in planned stimulus.
The Liberals had promised up to $100 billion in economic stimulus, subject to a series of spending guardrails to determine whether the economy had recovered enough from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Budget officer Yves Giroux's report released Wednesday morning said those benchmarks, largely tied to the labour market, appear to have been met. He said that suggests any stimulus should be wound down before the fiscal year ends in March.
Giroux added that the rationale for the planned stimulus of up to $100 billion no longer exists, unless the government has changed the policy yardsticks.
Speaking at a late-morning news conference, Trudeau pivoted away from questions about the spending guardrails, and pointed instead to the Liberals' plan to keep the debt as a percentage of the economy, known as the debt-to-GDP ratio, on a steady decline.
"We're going to continue to make sure that we are keeping Canada's balanced books healthy, while at the same time being there to support Canadians," Trudeau said.
