Canada is still paying the price for Trudeau’s fiscal delusions
Trudeau’s reckless spending has left Canadians with record debt, poorer services and no path back to a balanced budget
Justin Trudeau may be gone, but the economic consequences of his fiscal approach—chronic deficits, rising debt costs and stagnating growth—are still weighing heavily on Canada.
Before becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau famously said, “The budget will balance itself.” He argued that if expenditures stayed the same, economic growth would drive higher tax revenues and eventually outpace spending. Voila–balance!
But while the theory may have been sound, Trudeau had no real intention of pursuing a balanced budget. In 2015, he campaigned on intentionally overspending and borrowing heavily to build infrastructure, arguing that low interest rates made it the right time to run deficits.
This argument, weak in its concept, proved even more flawed in practice. Post-pandemic deficits have been horrendous, far exceeding the modest overspending initially promised. The budgetary deficit was $327.7 billion in 2020–21, $90.3 billion the year following, and between $35.3 billion and $61.9 billion in the years since.
Trudeau’s legacy is a fiscal time bomb.
Troy Media
