Mark Carney: a new fiscal discipline or more of the same?

Prime Minister Carney in addressing his caucus and in the Speech from the Throne stated that his government would be guided by a “new fiscal discipline”.

This came as a welcome change from the $1.4 trillion debt created by his predecessor Justin Trudeau. However, less than a month after the Federal Election and to the surprise of millions of Canadians his government tabled their first spending bill of this new Parliament, the Main Estimates for 2025-26 with a total cost to taxpayers of $487.6 billion – that’s nearly half a trillion dollars in new inflationary spending from Mr. Carney.

This from a man who made the bold declaration just last week that he would hold operational spending to an increase of no greater than two percent annually. So, imagine the shock of Canadians when he presented the Main Estimates with an 8.4% spending increase from last year.

In the absence of a budget, this was Prime Minister Carney’s first opportunity to show Canadians that he was different from his high spending predecessor.

He did not.

Single mothers, seniors, and small businesses all have to make a budget before they spend. You would think a highly esteemed central banker would know this and do the same.

Two glaring points add insult to injury:

The first is the continued expenditures on high priced consultants. The Treasury Board President in the last Parliament – Anita Anand – committed to finding a savings of $7.1 billion on consultants. Instead, the Liberals have now increased consulting expenditures by 37% - or another $7 billion in spending! Almost the exact amount this government pledged to save, showing that this is a Prime Minister and a government who will continues to put their high priced Liberal friends and insiders ahead of Canadians.

The second is that over ten percent of this half trillion dollar spending bill will go to cover our national debt charges. That’s $49 billion dollars just to cover the interest on the nations $1.4 trillion debt. Our government and indeed all Canadians will never be able to get ahead so long as we are trying to dig ourselves out of a fiscal hole this big.

This is a Prime Minister who claimed in the Speech from the Throne that the operational budget would be balanced within three years. How is this even possible with such a dismal start?

The Main Estimates were an opportunity for Prime Minister Carney to provide actions that matched his words.

He listed in his mandate letter to his cabinet that all actions should be guided by a newfound fiscal discipline for the prosperity of Canada so that Canadians could invest more in “the people and businesses that will build the strongest economy in the G7. Sadly, it seems Mr. Carney is just like his predecessor – and we have more of the same.