This week, Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance will stand in her place in the House of Commons and present the Trudeau government’s budget for the next year. I can remember a time when there was strict control over budget preparation, and any leaks that came out of that process prior to Budget Day resulted in the resignation of the Minister of Finance.
Not so much anymore. In fact, this government has been intentionally leaking one new initiative after another for the past few weeks. All indications are that it will be a spending budget, one that you might expect immediately before an election rather than one barely into the second half of this government’s mandate.
It will almost be like Christmas in April; subsidized pharmacare, subsidized dental care, throwing money at housing conditional on the provinces jumping to the Fed’s tune, and on and on. The reality, however, is that there is no Santa Claus here. Every penny governments spend in one way or another comes out of the pockets of their citizens.
The Trudeau Liberals are not alone in this. In recent weeks, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in Ontario tabled a budget projecting a whopping deficit of $9.8 billion in the coming fiscal year—a surprise coming from him.
As of last year, before any of the projected deficits in the 2024 budgets, Canada’s combined national/provincial debt was $2.1 trillion. This is not an imaginary figure that never really has to be paid back, although many would wish that were so. The annual interest alone on this debt reaches a level that even my calculator cannot compute!
I have long believed that government cannot be all things to all people. Doing so removes the incentive for individuals to strive for excellence. Where there is no reward, there is less incentive.
Governments did not invent the automobile, the airplane, medical achievements, or the internet (except in the mind of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who thinks he invented it). And the list goes on.
Governments, of course, have a critical role in ensuring our national safety, contributing to global affairs, building a strong economy, ensuring an adequate national infrastructure, protecting human rights, and helping those who, for one reason or another, cannot ultimately help themselves. But trying to be all things to all people is not what governments should do; when they try, they create uncontrollable debt.
To the degree that they are able, most people want to take responsibility for themselves and to make their own decisions without unnecessary government interference. That is my view, but I have recently concluded that I may be in the minority.
In a recent article in the Toronto Star, columnist Susan Delacourt said, “Like it or not, we live in a country now that expects government to spend its way out of problems (which I acknowledge has been taken to a high art by Trudeau’s Liberals and the pandemic).”
In this new age of populism, I wonder if we expect more from the government rather than less. Do we have an attitude that the more government can do for us, the less we have to do for ourselves? Or do we believe that temporary financially related measures taken by the government in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, should be made permanent?
The Federal Conservative Party still has a double-digit lead over the governing Liberals. But that lead has somewhat dropped as the Liberals have leaked out the goodies they plan to announce in their budget this week. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues as the Trudeau government attempts to buy back a competitive position in the polls.
Sadly, I believe that the last thing we will see in the budget tabled in the House of Commons this week is a decrease in spending. Yes, I expect there will be some politically astute cuts here and there, but I predict that the increase in new spending will far outweigh any reduction in the cost of government and certainly no reduction of the national debt.
I have heard from a number of people who believe governments, in general, are bloated, especially when it comes to spending, and that they all ought to be put on a diet. It is hard to disagree with that when one thinks of the future. And I am not sure that the Trudeau government gets it.
Too many families today are struggling to make ends meet. The apparent solution from Canada’s Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, as expressed recently, is for those people to cut out unneeded expenses such as paying for entertainment channels and other areas of enjoyment. Nothing there about cutting her own government expenses.
We live in a world full of uncertainties, with global power struggles that have not been seen since the Second World War. It is understandable that it is easy to ignore our country’s financial stability when so much more is going on to grab our attention. But the reality is that the overwhelming debt due to government spending that Canada faces is a threat, not only to this and future generations and their standard of living but also to our ability to have the resources required to address other serious issues at the global level such as climate change as well as potential threats to our democracy and sovereignty.
The bottom line is that government spending is bloated, and it is high time everyone was put on a strict diet.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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