Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is proposing that the national borrowing limit be increased for the second time in three years, this time to a record $2.1 trillion.
Ms. Freeland is proposing Ottawa’s debt limit be increased by 16 percent from $1.83 trillion to $2.13 trillion, according to a document tabled in the House of Commons April 30, which was first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“I call upon my parliamentary colleagues to pass this as soon as possible,” said Ms. Freeland in the document, which did not include an explanation for the need to increase the limit under the Borrowing Authority Act.
Known as the Ways and Means Motion, the tabled document will be used to advance the government’s 2024 budget priorities.
“Budget 2024 is a plan to build a Canada that works better for every generation, where younger generations can get ahead, where their hard work pays off, and where they can buy or rent their own home—where everyone has a fair chance at a good middle class life,” Ms. Freeland said in an April 30 statement announcing the Ways and Means Motion.
“We are doing this because a fair chance to build a good, middle class life has always been the promise of Canada.”
Legislators on April 30 described their concerns over federal finances.
Tory MP Jasraj Singh Hallan said federal leaders and the 2024 budget are out of touch with average Canadians who are struggling to meet basic needs amid high inflation and cost-of-living woes.
“There is no hope at the end of this tunnel right now,” he said. “There is no hope at all that their mortgage, their rent, their grocery prices will come down. It is going to be more of the same.”
“Canadians are terrified,” he added.
Senator Elizabeth Marshall told the Senate national finance committee that Canadian debt has risen substantially.
“The debt has doubled since 2015,” Ms. Marshall said. “There are no evaluation reports. No evaluations have been carried out.”
Ms. Freeland in budget 2024 said it “would be irresponsible and unfair to pass more debt to the next generation” but has yet to offer a deadline to eliminate deficit spending.
Budget 2024 forecasts that the government’s bonded debt will surpass a record $1.3 trillion in 2026 with debt interest charges climbing to $65 billion annually by the end of the decade.
The finance minister last raised Canada’s borrowing limit by 56 percent three years ago.
“What it does is set a ceiling for how much the government can spend,” Ms. Freeland told the Commons finance committee at the time.
“The increase in the borrowing authority is in no way a blank cheque,” she added. “Every single expenditure by the government needs to be authorized by parliament.”
