Trudeau hammered over slowing economy
Canada only G7 nation to record a deceleration in the second quarter: report
OTTAWA • Justin Trudeau faced broadsides Tuesday for his handling of the economy, which contracted just ahead of the election call.
Statistics Canada says the economy shrank at an annualized rate of 1.1 per cent between April and June, and estimated another drop in real gross domestic product in July.
With the July decline, economic activity remains about two per cent below pre-pandemic levels, Statcan said.
Canada is the only Group of Seven country to record a deceleration in the second quarter, according to an OECD report.
Speaking in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Trudeau said there are pockets of the economy that remain weak, pointing to arts and culture as an example, even as he argued the economy overall was roaring back.
It’s why, he said, emergency supports have dropped in value, even though the Liberal government extended them through the fall because of weaker-than-expected economic indicators.
He also argued that Conservative plans for child care, among other proposals, would hurt the pace of the recovery if women aren’t able to enter the workforce in greater numbers.
Trudeau didn’t directly say if he foresaw a time, if re-elected, that he may have to adjust federal spending to prevent spiralling deficits.
Conservatives argued the country is heading further down the road of recession rather than recovery: After eking out a gain in June to end the second quarter of the year, the economy contracted in July to eat up half of the previous month’s gain.
Speaking in Ottawa, Conservative Leader Erin O’toole said the figures “confirm what Canadians already knew: Under Justin Trudeau, Canada’s economy is getting worse, not better.” He promised to wrangle deficits over a decade to balance the books.
Pressed for details on where he would cut spending, O’toole said he wouldn’t cut at all and suggested something the Conservatives have long hammered Trudeau over — that the budget would balance itself.
“We will grow the economy so that we can get back to balance in a responsible and equitable way without cuts. That is our plan,” he said.
Affordability has already emerged as a key election talking point among the major parties, and it landed back on the campaign trail alongside the economy.
In Coquitlam, B.C., NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh outlined his plan to increase the capital gains tax on house flippers as a plank in making housing costs more affordable.
Statistics Canada noted Tuesday that Canadian households took on $84.2 billion more in mortgage debt over the first half of 2021, adding to the $62.3 billion in the last half of 2020 as the housing prices soared amid low supply, high demand, and rock-bottom interest rates.
The dual attacks on Trudeau from Singh and O’toole landed as a new poll suggests Conservatives and New Democrats have momentum heading into the second half of the federal election campaign, while the Liberals are bleeding support.
Thirty-four per cent of decided voters who took part in the Leger survey said they support O’toole’s Conservatives — ahead of the Liberals and up four percentage points since Aug. 16, when the campaign got underway.
Support for Singh’s New Democrats is also up four points, to 24 per cent.
Support for Trudeau’s Liberals, meanwhile, is down five points to 30 per cent, while Green party support is down three points to two per cent.
In Quebec, support for the Bloc Québécois stands at 29 per cent, behind the Liberals at 33 per cent.
The online poll of 2,005 Canadians, conducted Aug. 27 to 30 in collaboration with The Canadian Press, cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.