Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent much of his year-end media interviews defending embattled federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and saying that his government will focus on growing the Canadian economy in 2018.
The Prime Minister said that his Liberal Government will continue to focus on spurring economic growth and job creation to ensure a more comfortable future for the middle class. He eschewed the idea of shuffling his cabinet or proroguing Parliament and coming back with a Throne Speech laying out a new agenda for the second half of his four-year mandate.
Instead, the Liberals will deliver a budget in February or March that emphasizes investments in infrastructure and preparing Canadians for a changing economy, where advances in artificial intelligence and other technologies threaten traditional jobs. In 2018, Ottawa will also focus on getting the infrastructure bank, created this past year, up-and-running and leveraging private capital for projects that governments alone cannot afford.
Canada will also host a G7 leaders’ summit in June 2018 that focuses on “investing in growth that works for everyone,” preparing for the jobs of the future and advancing gender equality, among other things. And, Canada will also host for the first time both the Fortune Global Forum, a prestigious invitation-only gathering of the world’s business elite, and the companion Most Powerful Women Summit. These activities come as Canada posted the fastest economic growth among G7 countries in the second half of 2017, creating more than 400,000 jobs and posting the lowest unemployment rate in the country since 2008.
However, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government has been rocked by a number of scandals over the past six months – most notably an ethics investigation of Finance Minister Bill Morneau concerning his personal business dealings. Prime Minister Trudeau faced several questions about Minister Morneau during the year-end interviews, and stuck to his guns in defending the Finance Minister.
“He did follow the rules. Could he have done more? Sure,” said Prime Minister Trudeau to Global News. “As soon as it was brought to his attention, he did do more. I told him to tell the truth and be responsible. And that’s exactly what he’s continuing to do and to stay focused on delivering on the real things that matter, which we’ve been able to do.”
