Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday it’s time for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to present a fall economic statement to reveal the state of the country’s finances.
The economic statement, known in political circles as the FES, is a mini-budget of sorts typically tabled in November — it’s only been presented in December three times in the last 20 years. It gives Canadians a look at the federal finances and is used by the government to introduce new spending measures halfway through the fiscal year.
Poilievre suggested the delay is because Freeland is expected to blow past her promised deficit target.
After years of outsized spending in the COVID-19 era, Freeland has repeatedly said the 2023-24 deficit will be “at or below $40.1 billion.”
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has said it will likely be more than that when the final numbers come in, despite Freeland’s past assurances.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will give Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland two hours out of his party’s opposition day to table the fall economic statement.
Freeland also has said the government will lower the debt-to-GDP ratio and keep it on a downward slope for the years to come — a commitment that could be challenged by new major spending commitments like much more money for defence and border security, and a package of affordability measures.
“[Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau has completely lost control of our finances. Remember his minister said there would be a cap on the deficit of no more than $40 billion?” Poilievre told reporters Wednesday.
“Why won’t the finance minister tell us the true number? What is she hiding? Is she hiding that Trudeau lost control of the deficit this year just like every year?”
Poilievre did not take questions from the media.
Poilievre said he’d give Freeland a “Christmas gift” and let her table the FES on Monday — a day that’s been set aside for the Conservatives to push whatever they want in the Commons.
The government also hasn’t released its public accounts — essentially Ottawa’s annual report and a detailed look at what was spent in the last year. It is usually tabled in Parliament much earlier than December.
Freeland has been coy about when she will present a FES.
Repeatedly pressed by reporters Tuesday to say when the economic update is coming, Freeland would only say the government is “keen to deliver” one and “intent” on presenting one to the Commons.
“The only thing I’ll add is Canada does have a strong fiscal position. We have the lowest debt and deficit in the G7,” she said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand said Poilievre’s demand was a stunt — the FES is coming soon and the government doesn’t operate on his timeline.
“I know she’s working extremely hard to deliver that FES and she’ll do it when she’s ready,” Anand said. “Minister Freeland is very deliberate, very committed, and very responsible about delivering for Canadians — not Pierre Poilievre.”
Freeland has blamed the Conservatives’ filibustering of Parliament, preventing the House of Commons from carrying out its normal business, for the delay in tabling the FES.
In a media statement, a spokesperson for Freeland said the Conservatives have “irresponsibly shut down Parliament for weeks on end. For them to suggest today that they’re interested in doing the business of Parliament is ridiculous after months of blocking its work.”
A government official, speaking on background to CBC News, said presenting the FES on Monday as Poilievre has suggested would be a “reckless and ill-thought out idea” because the Bank of Canada is set to make its rate announcement two days later.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking at a press conference Tuesday, said she’s working on ways to deliver the fall economic statement — but offered no specifics or details about when it might be delivered.
The Conservatives, with the support of the other opposition parties, have been holding up the Commons as they demand the Liberal government release all unredacted documents related to a failed green technology scheme — something the government has so far refused to do, despite an order from MPs to produce those documents.
That now-defunct program has been a focus of controversy because the people behind the program allegedly handed out contracts to their own companies, a gross violation of federal ethics law.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government already has handed more than 20,000 documents and offered to send the question of whether to release more documents to a parliamentary committee.
He said it’s time for the Conservatives to move on from the filibuster.
“Canadians work at home, they don’t debate for two months — they want to see Parliament working. They are saying, ‘Get to work. There are serious things to be done,'” Champagne said.
While dodging questions about when the FES is coming, Freeland took a thinly veiled shot at Poilievre, urging opposition leaders not to denigrate Canada as it battles with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump over promised tariffs that have the potential to cripple the economy.
“It is important for us to be strong, smart and united and it’s important for us to take care not to negotiate against ourselves,” Freeland said.
“We need to be thoughtful as a country and as individuals … not to do or say things that harm the national interest.”
Those comments come after Poilievre said the Canada-U.S. border is “broken” and overrun by migrants and drugs — rhetoric that is similar to what Trump has used to demand change from U.S. trading partners.
