IM-Drummond and Robson_2024_0415.pub

A primary purpose of a budget is to convey the state of the nation’s finances. [...] There is no justification for continuously running budget deficits when aggregate demand and supply are roughly balanced, the debt burden is high, and the Bank of Canada is struggling to get inflation back to the two per cent target the government itself has endorsed. [...] To balance the budget without tax increases, the government must lower spending relative to the track set out in the fall update. [...] The budget must explain how the government will fund these initiatives — and the answer must not be by borrowing even more. [...] The budget should show how the government plans to get to the target and what the implications will be for growth and the fiscal outlook.