In his 2021 book Value(s): Building a Better World for All, Mark Carney, now prime minister, wrote: “Companies exist to improve our lives, expand our horizons and solve society’s problems.”

His government’s Budget 2026, tabled Nov. 5 under the title “Masters of Our Destiny,” puts that belief into practice. It spends far more public funds rewarding and “incentivizing” the owners of large companies than it does addressing the affordability challenges Canadians face.

The budget offers tax breaks on private investment and capital gains, along with write-offs on capital purchases such as equipment. Corporations will collect them on investments they likely would have made anyway.

This is trickle-down economics, and it doesn’t work. Corporate welfare sends profits gushing up to the wealthy without necessarily yielding spillovers in jobs or economic growth.

More Canadians are going without

A string of reports released in recent weeks underscores the urgency of the moment. Apart from much-needed funding for housing and a welcome commitment to end homelessness within 10 years, the budget talks more about income and food security than it actually delivers.

The National Advisory Council on Poverty’s 2026 report, Too Many Left Behind, finds Canada is not on track to meet its commitment to cut poverty in half by 2030.

While poverty fell between 2015 and 2020, it has climbed steadily since 2021. Food Banks Canada’s 2026 HungerCount report indicates that food bank visits have risen 117 per cent since 2019, and are almost nine per cent higher than last year. Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank documents a whopping 333 per........

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