Finance minister has his work cut out for him

A business executive with impressive Bay Street credentials but little political experience is the country’s next finance minister.

Rookie Toronto Centre MP Bill Morneau will be largely responsible for government efforts to boost a sluggish economy. He faces overseeing a dip back into deficit; implementing a middle- class tax cut; and preparing a budget on a short time frame.

He is certainly qualified for the job. Morneau, 53, resigned last week as executive chairman of Morneau Shepell, Canada’s largest human resources services firm

He is the former chair of the C. D. Howe Institute, an economic think- tank, and served as a member of Trudeau’s economic advisory council before the election. Morneau has also served as an adviser to the Ontario Liberal government on pension investments and retirement income.

His education includes a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a master of business administration degree from INSEAD, a graduate business school.

However, Morneau is new to the cut and thrust of federal politics and will have to find his feet quickly in the House of Commons and at major international meetings of G7 and G20 finance ministers.

Suddenly, every word out of his mouth will be scrutinized.

Near the top of Morneau’s to- do list is a middle- class tax cut, which Trudeau has promised will be the first piece of legislation once Parliament resumes Dec. 3.

The Liberals have pledged to cut the middle- class income- tax bracket to 20.5 per cent from 22 per cent, and increase taxes on the richest Canadians with a new tax bracket of 33 per cent for annual incomes of more than $ 200,000.

Morneau must move quickly to release a fall fiscal update, before a budget that observers expect to be tabled in February or March. Moreover, he must carefully manage the government’s plans to run red ink, a key pledge during the election campaign. The Liberals have promised $ 25 billion worth of deficits over three years to help spur the economy, before posting a razor- thin surplus in 2019.