Liberals’ federal budget to land March 22

Finance Minister Bill Morneau made the announcement today during question period. The document will emphasize providing workers the necessary skills to be competitive.

Thestar.com
March 7, 2017
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Finance Minister Bill Morneau will unveil the federal budget on March 22, a fiscal blueprint he says will put a focus on giving workers the skills needed to compete in a changing economy.

Morneau announced the date of the upcoming budget in the Commons on Tuesday, saying it will “create jobs, invest in our communities.”

Later, he told reporters that the budget will emphasize skills training to help the “next generation” and encourage “greater workforce participation.”

“It will be about how we can help Canadians get the skills that they need in a dynamic and changing economy. It’ll be really about thinking about how we can turn challenges into opportunities. That’s our goal this year, to make our economy more innovative and to prepare Canadians for that ... exciting opportunity,” Morneau said.

Morneau drew fire last year for saying that young workers today should get used to job churn, short-term employment and holding a number of jobs over the course of a working life.

On Tuesday, he suggested the upcoming budget will try to remedy that, calling it a “key area of focus.”

“We will be thinking about how the federal government can engage with provinces, so that we can ensure that Canadians are able to adapt to what is an exciting set of opportunities,” he said.

Morneau brushed aside questions whether uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration - questions around the renegotiation of NAFTA, the possibility of a border tax that could hit Canadian exports and tax cuts for U.S. corporations and individuals - would influence the government as it finalizes its budget plan.

“Our budget will be about Canada. It’ll be about Canadians, and I’m confident that we’ll help Canadians get the skills they need in a challenging economic environment,” the finance minister said.

Still, he acknowledged that global growth is important and that Canada must have an understanding of how its impacts. “But with our program, we are going to have measures that will help our level of economic growth,” he said.

But the Liberals’ budget ambitions could be hobbled by a balance sheet that is in the red. The fall update showed the government running a deficit of $25.1 billion in the current fiscal year, rising to $27.8 billion next year before dropping to $14.6 billion in five years.

Liberal pledges to hold the deficit to $10 billion and balance the books in four years have fallen by the wayside, the victim of what the government says are spending measures needed to help stimulate a slow-growth economy.

In the fiscal update presented last November, the government upped the amount it wants to spend on infrastructure, raising the total to $186.7 billion over 11 years.

The additional spending was earmarked for public transit, green projects such as water and waste-water facilities and social infrastructure such as affordable housing, cultural and recreational facilities as well projects to ease trade and money for rural communities.

The budget could provide additional details around those spending plans, notably a national housing strategy to help steer investments in affordable housing that urban leaders say is desperately needed across the country.

In a briefing document, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities says that waiting lists for social housing are “intolerably long,” noting 97,000 households are waiting in Toronto alone.

“With bold decisions now, the government can lead a transformation of Canada’s housing sector - on the road to ensuring every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home,” the document states.

The federal government is also considering the potential sell-off of major airports to private sector investors, such as pension funds, to raise much-needed revenue to help fund its infrastructure program. The Liberals have been weighing options for several months, and the budget could signal next steps on this front.