FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA, ON – The Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance, today joined fellow Finance Committee Members Marty Morantz, Shadow Minister for National Revenue, and Michael Cooper, Deputy Shadow Minister for Finance, to discuss Conservative recommendations to salvage Canada’s weak and vulnerable economy. The recommendations flow from hearings at the Standing Committee on Finance over the last month. They issued the following statement:
“Canada’s economy was grinding to a halt well before coronavirus and the illegal blockades. In the last quarter we saw the worst growth in four years.
“The Liberals have completely abandoned their fiscal anchors and Canada’s economic ship is adrift. The debt-to-GDP ratio is rising, the deficit has ballooned to $28 billion, and the Liberals have completely abandoned the idea of ever balancing the budget.
“The reality is, Justin Trudeau’s sky high taxes, wasteful spending, and massive deficits have put Canada in a weak and vulnerable position. He spent the cupboard bare when times were good and now there is nothing left.
“In his first four years in power, Justin Trudeau added $72 billion to the national debt. Canadians will be saddled with an additional $100 billion of debt by the end of this fiscal year. What’s worse is that so much of the money has been wasted. There is nothing to show for $100 billion in spending and there is no evidence that it generated any growth.
“Trudeau’s weak leadership and anti-energy policies have resulted in the loss of at least 200,000 jobs and $150 billion in capital. Canada now has higher unemployment than four G7 countries—the U.S., U.K., Japan and Germany. The only two G7 countries with higher unemployment are France and Italy, whose socialist policies the Trudeau government is trying to emulate.
“We need urgent action to unleash our economy. That is why Budget 2020 must include:
- Tax cuts for workers and entrepreneurs to reward investment and work;
- A reasonable plan to phase out the deficit and reassure investors;
- A Two-for-One Rule to eliminate red tape and liberate businesses;
- An end to corporate welfare for favoured companies; and
- An end to the wasteful Liberal spending that we have seen over the past four years.
“Canada’s Conservatives have a plan to unleash our economy, reward hard work, eliminate waste and allow Canadians to fulfill their potential. We will continue to be the voice of hardworking entrepreneurs and workers and demand that the Trudeau Liberals’ get our economy back on track so that Canadians can get back to work.”
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Conservatives will be using our Opposition Day on Monday to debate the following motion:
March 5, 2020 — Mr. Poilievre (Carleton) — That an order of the House do issue for any document prepared by any department, agency and Crown corporation since November 4, 2015, discussing warnings or concerns of economic downturns, their potential impact on the fiscal framework, or advice or recommendations on how to deal with them; and that the documents be provided to the House within 45 days following the adoption of this motion.