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OTTAWA — Good governance takes planning.
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That was Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s message Thursday morning, reacting to news the Mark Carney Liberals won’t table a federal budget this year — a move he says doesn’t bode well for the fledgling government’s election promises to make life more affordable.
“That takes a plan — a plan to reverse the Liberal housing crisis, a plan to reverse the Liberal inflation crisis, a plan to reverse the Liberal jobs and economic growth crisis, and a plan to stand up against American tariffs,” Poilievre told reporters outside of West Block.
“That plan always comes in the form of a budget.”
Poilievre offered to sit down with the prime minister to help create a path towards releasing a budget.
The Liberals provided no explanation as to why they’re not tabling a budget this year, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne telling reporters Wednesday to instead expect a fall economic statement sometime after the House’s summer recess.
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The move also sparked concern amongst watchdog organizations, including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Poilievre’s call came just hours before the Ontario government unveiled its 2025 provincial budget, tabled less than two months after the Doug Ford PCs election win.
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Budgets, Poilievre said, chart a government’s course for the coming year on such things as the deficit, inflation, tax policy and interest rates — and are an important tool for Canadians and businesses to gauge the impact of economic policy.
“Mr. Carney, during the election campaign, said that he had a plan, and took great delight in saying that ‘slogan is not a plan,’” Poilievre said, gently mocking Carney’s criticism of the Conservative election platform.
“Well, a budget is a plan — if he does indeed have a plan, if he does know what he’s doing, then he would introduce a budget so that Canadians know exactly what the finances are.”
With no budget this year, Poilievre said this makes it the longest time Canada’s gone without one since the 1960s, outside of a budget-free 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s extremely unusual, it’ll send a bad signal to investors and ratings agencies, and a lot of people will wonder what the Liberal government is hiding about our finances,” Poilievre said.
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