Poilievre Calls on Freeland to Stop Tax Increases, Government Spending in Fall Economic Statement

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 28, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to include in her upcoming fall economic statement a plan to stop the federal government’s upcoming tax increases and to offset any new spending with “equivalent saving.”

“The bubble is finally bursting and the bill is finally coming due,” Poilievre wrote in an open letter to Freeland on Oct. 30.

Freeland will deliver her fall economic statement, which is an annual update on the federal government’s finances, on Nov. 3 in the House of Commons.

“For years my warnings that out-of-control spending would balloon inflation, and then interest rates, were ignored. Now in a leaked letter the government seems to now agree with me,” Poilievre wrote.

Poilievre was referring to a leaked directive sent by Freeland to her cabinet colleagues earlier this month telling them that any new government spending in this year’s budget must be at least partially paid for by cancelling other initiatives, as reported by the Toronto Star on Oct. 19.

“Submissions seeking new funding should demonstrate an ability to leverage existing departmental resources to provide at least 25 per cent of new operating costs requested,” Freeland reportedly wrote to ministers in the directive.

Freeland has said in recent weeks that Canada will soon face a “slowdown in economic activity” as a result of rising inflation and interest rates.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it and I’m not going to claim that we don’t have some challenging months ahead,” she told reporters in Gatineau, Que., on Oct. 17.

‘Fiscal Responsibility’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Vancouver, B.C., on Oct. 21 that Canadians are “worried about fiscal responsibility” and spoke of a “coming economic storm.”

“I know a lot of families are worried about their household finances and grateful for the help that the federal government had given during the pandemic,” he said.

“But Canadians are also worried about fiscal responsibility so that we can be sure to have the ability to respond in case the economy deteriorates,” he added.

In his letter to Freeland, Poilievre called on the government to “stop the taxes” and “stop the spending.”

“Cancel the tripling of the carbon tax,” he wrote, referring to the Liberal government’s planned carbon-tax hike in April 2023.

“Any new spending by ministers must be matched by an equivalent saving,” he added.

“Canadians are struggling. Many are barely hanging on. This week’s fall economic statement comes at a critical moment.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.