In 2015, during the election campaign, Justin Trudeau promised to run “modest” deficits.
We know the rest. The deficits have really not been modest and the federal government has not returned to a balanced budget.
For nearly eight years, the Liberals have been spending lavishly. When it was time to save, the federal government spent.
When the pandemic arrived, there it was the open bar. Billions for the pandemic, but also billions for expenses that had nothing to do with COVID-19.
A ridiculous offer
When politicians in both Quebec and Ottawa tell the population that running deficits is not a good thing, the average voter does not seem to care too much because he does not see the impact on his wallet.
However, after the health crisis, now comes the economic crisis and very soon the public finance crisis.
We had a good example of this on Tuesday, with the offer that Justin Trudeau made to the provinces in terms of health transfers.
A meager $46.2 billion in new investments for the next ten years. The provinces were asking for an additional $28 billion per year. We are very very far from the mark!
In addition, Justin Trudeau had promised a “substantial” offer to François Legault. Clearly, the two men do not have the same definition of the word substantial.
Change of direction
For Justin Trudeau, it’s quite a change of direction. For eight years, money settled almost everything. For health, this is not the case.
Basically, it is not wrong that money will not solve everything in the field of health. But, he finds himself in a strange position with his offer in the field of health.
If Justin Trudeau had “modest” deficits in the past. Today, he could spend on health.
