Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to say when his government will provide a budget or fiscal update, citing economic uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government's first budget since the fall election wasn't delivered in late March as originally planned when the House of Commons went on an extended hiatus as a result of the pandemic.
Trudeau says the government is having difficulty determining what's going to happen to the Canadian economy in the coming weeks and months.
Federal spending to combat the economic fallout from the pandemic is approaching $400 billion, not including tens of billions more in loans and tax deferrals to help companies cover costs. To date, Ottawa’s Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) has paid $30.5 billion in benefits to over 7.8 million people, based on the most recently published federal figures. The federal government has spent billions more to prop up businesses and keep employees on payrolls.
On Tuesday, the parliamentary budget officer warned that all the emergency aid, and possible spending to aid in a recovery, will likely push Canada’s national debt to $1 trillion. In a fiscal update delivered late last fall, the Liberal government had forecast a $28.1-billion budget deficit.
"Unlike previous recessions or economic downturns, this is a situation that has no antecedent," Trudeau said Wednesday. "It is a completely outside health issue that has caused us to choose to cease a massive amount of economic activity in this country to keep Canadians safe."
The Conservative Party of Canada has been pressing the Liberals to, at a minimum, provide a fiscal update and proper accounting of its emergency relief spending.
