The post-election to-do list for Canada’s new old government is long and getting longer.
But among the key challenges here for the marginally victorious Liberals is that knocking any of the high-priority items off the list is going to take more than dishing out taxpayer money.
The September 20 election’s outcome confirms at least one fact: the electorate is unwilling to invest majority confidence in any one of the three major political parties to pass the leadership exam that domestic and world events have presented them with.
Were that test based only on spending, each of the three would be at the front of the class.
Debt accumulation, as illustrated by their campaign promises, is what they major in. Additions over the next five years to the country’s already frightening $1 trillion-plus public debt pile range from $50 billion on up to $70 billion. That represents a fiscal albatross for Canada by any measure.
More alarming than the debt accumulation promised by Canada’s federal political parties is their lack of a clear plan to deliver a balanced budget. Ever.
Economic issues were hardly discussed during the election campaign.
Little wonder then that in a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade pre-election survey of Metro Vancouver residents and businesses, 78% of residents and 88% of businesses expressed concern about their rising tax burden.
In a country where economic fundamentals such as business investment, productivity, competitiveness and standard of living gains have all been sliding for the past five years compared with other western economies, the low priority afforded economic issues by Canada’s political leaders is a major concern.
The minority Liberal government’s failure to provide a sane rationale for forcing the country into an expensive federal election in the midst of a pandemic has raised doubt about its leadership credentials. Its continued failure to provide a road map out of Canada’s deep valley of debt will confirm it.
