NDP vow for balanced budget means big cuts, Liberals warn

Mulcair accused of ‘siding with Harper’ as Trudeau refuses to rule out running deficits

Thestar.com
Aug. 26, 2015
By Ben Spurr

The Liberals are warning that NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair would be forced to pursue a policy of “austerity” in order to meet his promise to balance the budget in his first year in office.

“Thomas Mulcair talks a lot about looking out for average Canadians, but his only path to a balanced budget so quickly is massive cuts and backing away from the NDP’s spending promises,” says Chrystia Freeland, the Liberal candidate in University-Rosedale.

Daylight opened up between NDP and Liberal economic policies this week, after Mulcair pledged Tuesday to balance the budget and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau refused to rule out running a deficit.

While touring a small manufacturingbusiness in London, Ont., on Wednesday Mulcair was resolute in his promise, saying the NDP is “not entertaining any thought” of running a deficit, even if global economic trends continue to worsen.

The party has yet to explain how it would avoid going into the red to fund its campaign promises, however. The pledges include a proposed $40-million tax credit for businesses that invest in innovation, as well as a proposal to cut the small business tax rate to nine per cent from 11 per cent.

The party would also have to find money to pay for its key campaign pledge of creating one million $15-a-day child care spaces, which would require $5 billion a year when fully implemented.

Some of the party’s plans could be financed by scrapping Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s $2-billion income-splitting tax plan. Mulcair said the remaining details of his party’s platform will be forthcoming.

“We’re going to have a fully-costed program. Everybody will get to see what the NDP plan is every step of the way,” he said.

In a move mirroring Conservative attack ads that claim Trudeau is “just not ready,” the NDP sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon asserting the Liberal leader’s position on the budget is proof “he’s not up to the job.”

“Thomas Mulcair’s phony rhetoric is a mirage,” said Freeland in a press release. “He’s siding with Harper in favour of austerity instead of investment, jobs, and growth.”

Harper warned at a stop in Lancaster, Ont., that the alternatives offered “by the other two guys” would ruin the country’s finances.