Ottawa, ON – The Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) confirmed today what Canadians have suspected: Carney’s premise of “spending less” and “invest more” is pure speculation.
The PBO told the committee that he “doesn’t know if the government currently has fiscal anchors” which causes a “considerable degree of concern.” Further, the government has failed to provide a “clear definition of what would fall into capital and what would fall into operating.”
This makes it “impossible” to assess if the government could hit any fiscal target. He told the committee that he is unaware if the government currently has any fiscal anchor, and that the deficit “will absolutely be higher.”
The government’s lack of transparency has also led to “heightened” uncertainty among the business community. While the Liberals have continued to push back releasing the budget, the PBO said that continued delays in the budget date and fiscal forecasting undermines Canada’s fiscal credibility with rating agencies.
The PBO also cautioned about causing confusion if capital and expense definitions are changed from impartial and independent international standards. He warned that if the government tries to play fiscal games with reporting deficits and levels of debt, Canadians would be forced to pay higher costs for the debt.
Mark Carney must come clean with his numbers and ensure that Canadians can see how much of their money he’s actually spending. With taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars of inflationary deficits every single year, Conservatives will continue to hold the government to their promises and ensure they can be held to account.