The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) panned the Trudeau government鈥檚 maiden budget as a reckless dive into unnecessary deficits and increased public debt.
鈥淚f this government held a contest to pick a title for this budget, the winner would probably be 鈥楽pendy McDebtface鈥�,鈥� said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick.
鈥淭he Liberals campaigned on 鈥榬eal change鈥� but this plan bears a striking resemblance to the last government鈥檚 ill-advised choice to plunge the country into a long string of deficits. The biggest 鈥榗hange鈥� on offer here is absolutely no plan to get back to a balanced budget.鈥�
Program spending is projected to skyrocket by $44 billion, or 16 per cent, by 2020, including an immediate jump of 7 per cent for 2017.
The CTF did welcome several measures in the budget, including a shift to a means-tested childcare benefit, as well as a commitment to review the efficiency of the overall tax system. 鈥淩ather than just giving $185 million more to the Canada Revenue Agency, the government should move quickly to simplify our absurdly complicated tax system 鈥� and make it easier both for Canadians to do their taxes, and for the CRA to do their job,鈥� said Wudrick.
Overall, Wudrick said Canadians should be deeply concerned about the additional burden that nearly $100 billion in new debt will place on future generations, and the government鈥檚 unwillingness to even present a medium-range plan to return to balance.
鈥淭here are measures in this budget that certain groups will welcome, but the fact remains we simply cannot afford to pay for them all,鈥� said Wudrick. 鈥淭his government has dodged making any difficult decisions and instead chosen to saddle future generations with the cost of billions in new spending. They are repeating the mistakes of past governments and perpetuating an expensive cycle which causes debt interest to consume $26 billion a year 鈥� money we then can鈥檛 use for programs, services or tax relief.鈥�
