Morneau to reach out to business for crafting policy
TORONTO• Canada’ s new finance minister Bill Morneau gave his first public speech Monday, outlining how his government plans to kickstart a sluggish Canadian economy.
Speaking to business professionals at a Toronto Region Board of Trade luncheon, Morneau focused on what has become a new Liberal talking point: moving away from a promise to keep annual deficits under $ 10 billion and instead putting emphasis on lowering Canada’s debt- to- GDP ratio.
Originally, the previous Conservative government had forecast that Canada would return to a budget surplus of $ 2.4 billion in 2015. But an update to the budget by the Liberals this month revealed that it is likely the government will actually see a $ 3 billion deficit in 2015-2016.
“We will strike a balance between fiscal responsibility and delivering on our commitments to Canadians,” Morneau said in his speech.
The minister said his government will follow three “fundamental principles” to grow the economy, including keeping the debt- to- GDP ratio on a downward track, managing “expenditures prudently” and returning to a balanced budget at the end of the Liberal mandate.
That will have to occur as the Liberals embark on a $ 125 billion infrastructure spending program they have pledged for the next decade.
Morneau, a longtime Bay Street executive who was chair of human resources giant Morneau Shepell before being elected to public office, told the audience that his government would focus on listening to economic and business experts in how to steer the Canadian economy.
He revealed that the Liberal government will bring in a new economic advisory council early next year, which will seek to leverage economic and business experts in Canada and abroad to deal with the country’s long- term economic challenges. The council will include members of both the public and private sectors.
Morneau also elaborated on some of the changes made recently to eligibility rules for governmentbacked insured mortgages. He had announced last week that Ottawa was tightening rules on mortgage lending by requiring a down payment of 10 per cent from five per cent on any portion of a house price above $ 500,000.
“The initiatives we took last Friday were really focused dealing with what we saw as pockets of risk in housing market,” he told reporters after the speech. “We will continue to look at the housing market over the course of our mandate.”