Conservative MP Pat Kelly says the federal Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney have ignored fiscal guardrails and refuse to answer questions about when the federal budget will be balanced.
Canada’s federal budget deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year is projected at $78.3 billion, about 2.5 per cent of GDP, according to Budget 2025. Recent Fiscal Monitor data show a cumulative deficit of $26.4 billion through November 2025, higher than the $22.7 billion recorded over the same period a year earlier.
In a committee meeting, Kelly told Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne: “All of your predecessors have come here to this committee and made commitments that they could never fulfill. So, it goes to credibility, and Canadians are watching, and they want to have confidence in their officials, but by refusing to answer questions and by refusing to adhere to fiscal anchors and fiscal guardrails that you set for yourself and perpetually change, that erodes confidence in officials, because it it means that Canadians don’t know whether they can trust your words. I would say Canadians deserve a plain answer about whether or not there is any plan to ever balance the budget.”
The federal government says the deficit is expected to decline gradually to about $56.6 billion, or 1.5 per cent of GDP, by 2029-30.
Conservatives are skeptical.
Total federal debt stood at roughly $1.27 trillion at the end of 2024-25 and is projected to rise to about $1.35 trillion in 2025-26, reaching $1.59 trillion by 2029-30, with the debt-to-GDP ratio stabilizing around 43 per cent, according to Budget 2025 economic and fiscal projections.
The projections reflect increased spending on defence, housing and growth initiatives amid “global challenges,” including U.S. trade pressures.
Champagne responded to Kelly: “That’s your personal opinion. I’d use humility, because if you look at the rating agencies and others and economists in the country, they understand where we’re going, and even former Prime Minister Harper, former prime minister, which you should listen to on certain budget, but use the fiscal capacity at the time of crisis to protect Canada.”
