Electing Trudeau was a $2 trillion mistake

[Rwede]

Trudeau will bury us in debt

BY CANDICE MALCOLM
FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2017 10:03 PM EST | UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2017 10:05 PM EST


When Canadians elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was a $2 trillion mistake.

And, no, that’s not just an opinion.

The $2 trillion figure comes from the Government of Canada’s Department of Finance, in its annual update on long-term fiscal projections.

The economic forecast was released this week, and the figures are stunning.

The last long-term economic report, released under the Stephen Harper government in 2014, predicted Canada would eliminate its national debt within 25 years.

Despite the large economic drain of baby boomers retiring from the workforce and utilizing expensive social services like health care and Old Age Security, the Harper government had a plan to deliver balanced budgets.

It also planned to pay off the federal debt and, much like Ralph Klein’s Alberta in the 2000s, become debt free after 2035.

By 2040, Canada was projected to have no federal debt and a $158 billion surplus. This surplus would continue to grow, and presumably be returned to Canadians through lower taxes and increased spending on social programs.

The Harper government’s long-term economic plan included some tough but fair measures, like reducing the growth in federal spending and moving the retirement age up to 67.


*************snip************

Today’s long-term economic forecast paints a dire picture for the country’s finances.

It’s particularly punishing for young Canadians and future taxpayers.

Instead of surpluses, Canada will run deficits. Year after year.

Far from being debt-free within 25 years, Canada is now projected to run catastrophic deficits every year.

Our annual shortfall is forecasted to be $40 billion in 2035 alone.

By 2045, the government now projects $1.5 trillion in federal debt.

Just two years ago, Canada was projected to have a $760 billion surplus that same year.


http://www.torontosun.com/2017/01/04/tr ... us-in-debt

[Leifer]

My Grandkids will be paying for this mistake....and they will probably be trashing my generation for electing another Trudeau to office.
But hey....legal weed right?

[hobbyguy]

http://www.oecd.org/economy/canada-economic-forecast-summary.htm

"Economic growth is projected to increase to 2.3% in 2018. As contraction in the resources sector slows, activity in the rest of the economy is projected to strengthen. Non-energy exports should continue to benefit from stronger export market growth and earlier exchange rate depreciation. Consumer price inflation should pick up to around 2% as the effect of falling energy prices fades and excess capacity is gradually eliminated."

"The federal government used the fiscal space created by lower interest rates in its 2016 budget. New measures increase the budget deficit by 0.6-0.7% of GDP in 2016-17 and a further 0.3% of GDP in 2018-19. The deficit increase reflects higher spending on physical infrastructure, social housing, education and innovation. The increase in spending on social housing will make growth more inclusive, as will the new Canada Child Benefit, which is means tested, and measures to foster Indigenous Peoples’ economic development and to make post-secondary education more affordable for students from low-income families. Provinces do not have the fiscal space to loosen their fiscal stance."

My bold. More inclusive growth will, in the long run, result in a stronger picture than supply-side "trickle down" orthodoxy believers can understand.

The same can be said of the rebounding growth (although modest) in sectors outside of oil and gas. Economic diversity (as opposed to Harper's one trick "tar sands or bust" will always win out in the end. Harper's one tick economic policies and ideological bent against government left us in a hole. It will take time to climb out.

That said, the Trudeau Liberals have not yet demonstrated that they can achieve a balance, nor that they have found an economic/fiscal paradigm that will fully get us out of the damage that the Harperites created. However, there are some positive signs in trying to achieve rational balances around such issues as pipelines/marine safety.

Hopefully what we will see is a pattern similar to the last time the Liberals managed to dig us out of a Conservative mess. 3-4 years of deficits followed by many years of surplus and paying down the national debt. (NO Conservative government has ever paid down the national debt!).

So this "critique" from a far right (associated with the Koch brothers, Ezra Levant et al) and Harperite Conservative partisan lacks depth of understanding and credibility.

[bob vernon]

I heard that the election of Trudeau will be the death knell for Canada. Separatism will rear its ugly head. And the dollar amount will be at least a hundred times the 2 trillion mentioned. And he'll shove the metric system and bilingualism down our throats which will be a total disaster for Canada. We're going to hell in a handbasket because of his evil ways. It's just awful living in the new Canada. We're all miserable and suffering.

I just wish we had the compassionate and unifying Harper years back again.

[The Green Barbarian]

I just wish we had the compassionate and unifying Harper years back again.

And I wish that in Canadian politics we could find a middle ground and find someone who isn't hated so much by the left and is "compassionate" (whatever the hell that means) and yet isn't a bumbling spendaholic airhead like we have now. Does this person exist? Someone who can do basic math and can balance a budget, yet is considered "compassionate" too? Is it possible to accomplish this? Or can you only be seen as "acceptable" by the left and "compassionate" if you push stupid tax schemes and run giant deficits? If such a person exists that can please everyone, even mildly, then please stand up. What we have now isn't working. At all.

[hobbyguy]

We had one: Paul Martin, and the Harperites sunk him with "scandals".

Unfortunately the voters are less likely to take a long view than they are to get caught up in the "juicy stuff" in the form of mud slinging, and now even false stories. No politician is perfect.

Every political party has a population of members who are politicians for the purpose of satisfying their own wants rather than serving the country.

In fact, these days it seems that the breed of politician that values service to the country above all else has become an endangered species. Instead we get ideological People, moneygrubbers, and self aggrandizers as the general population of politicians. Partisanship serves these unsavory types well. Eventually, the unsavory types bring down the few that do value service to the country because of partisanship.

At some point, the voters have to realize that it is the local candidate, and their integrity, that is more important than partisanship. But I won't hold my breath for that in this day and age.

Competency matters, and especially to those who do not choose a partisan position. Paul Martin was arguably the most competent person we have had as prime minister in modern times. Unfortunately he lacked the skill of being able to deal with the National Enquirer type smear campaigns and genuine fluff ups by the unsavory within his party.

And so we come to today, where we have a "muddler" as prime minister and who is learning on the job. 2 more budgets and we see how steep the learning curve has been. Beyond that, the carry over from previous governments will have largely faded, but it will be a hard read depending on what happens south of the border.

[Jx3]

*removed*

[Rwede]

Decades of deficits could be ahead for Canada, federal analysis warns

Finance Department report says the federal debt could double to $1.5 trillion by 2050-51

By Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 05, 2017 3:46 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 06, 2017 11:38 AM ET


Federal numbers released quietly by the Trudeau government late last month are painting a bleak picture of Canada's financial future — one filled with decades of deficits.

The report, published on the Finance Department website two days before Christmas, predicts that, barring any policy changes, the federal government could be on track to run annual shortfalls until at least 2050-51.

If such a scenario plays out, the document says the federal debt could climb past $1.55 trillion by that same year — more than double its current level.

schnip

"In 2015, (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau ran on a platform pledging transparency, openness, and with the promise to return to a fiscal surplus by 2019," said Tory finance critic Gerard Deltell.

"Now after just more than a year of Justin Trudeau, Canadians are looking at deficits as far as the eye can see."


http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/decades ... -1.3923060

[LTD]

I have to laugh because no one I talk to these days voted for selfie boy yet somehow he got elected guess most of them just don't want to own up to such a horrendous mistake

[Rwede]

*removed*

[hobbyguy]

There were an awful lot of folks who voted against Harper, and the Harperite mess.

We are seeing some sense that a better balance has to be achieved for the future. The scrap over health care funding shows a realization that there isn't a bottomless pit of money. So does buying less costly Super Hornets and in smaller numbers. As does approving pipelines that make the most sense. The moves to provide less costly options for government employee pensions is another.

None of those are politically expedient. But they do show a growing realization that the government can NOT afford "everything". Watch for cuts in the shipbuilding program to follow.

[Rwede]

There were an awful lot of folks who voted against Harper, and the Harperite mess.

We are seeing some sense that a better balance has to be achieved for the future. The scrap over health care funding shows a realization that there isn't a bottomless pit of money. So does buying less costly Super Hornets and in smaller numbers. As does approving pipelines that make the most sense. The moves to provide less costly options for government employee pensions is another.

None of those are politically expedient. But they do show a growing realization that the government can NOT afford "everything". Watch for cuts in the shipbuilding program to follow.

Yes, that's why we're now going from a large surplus to an unfathomable, unsustainable, unaffordable deficit.

Good choices by your Liberal morons, Hobby.

[jimmy4321]

Yes, that's why we're now going from a large surplus to an unfathomable, unsustainable, unaffordable deficit.

Good choices by your Liberal morons, Hobby.

Large surplus lol
What decade you in?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/multimedia/canad ... -1.3042571

[django]

Everybody relax because...

[Rwede]

Large surplus lol
What decade you in?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/multimedia/canad ... -1.3042571

Did you read the article?

In 2014, the government was on track for a $760 billion surplus and our debt paid off by 2045 under Harper's plan.

Now, under Trudeau's plan, we'll be $1.5 trillion in debt.

I know to many smoking pot was more important than managing the country's economy, but we simply can't afford to sit and smoke pot and ignore the economy.