Liberals promise to catch tax cheats
A Liberal government would rely on departmental spending cuts and a crackdown on tax cheats to return to a balanced budget during the final year of a four- year mandate, after racking up billions of dollars in additional federal debt.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has blasted the Conservatives and NDP throughout the federal election campaign for promising to keep the budget balanced at all costs. He says the only way to fulfil that promise is with deep cuts to programs and services.
Trudeau has instead said he would run “modest” deficits so a Liberal government could invest billions of new dollars in public transit, sewers and affordable housing, and other infrastructure to grow the economy and create jobs.
Their fiscal plan, released Saturday, shows a Liberal government proposing to run deficits of $ 9.8 billion and $ 9.5 billion in its first two years, and $ 5.7 billion in 2018- 19, before producing a $ 1 billion surplus in time for an election in 2019- 20.
But the plan requires that a Liberal government find a combined $ 6.5 billion in savings to work. That includes $ 3 billion in savings in 2019- 20 alone to return to surplus.
The Liberals say the money would come from closing tax loopholes and catching tax evaders, but also a review of departmental spending. There wouldn’t be any money set aside for contingencies.
The Conservatives had promised in government to close tax loopholes and stop individuals from hiding money in offshore tax havens. Liberal candidate and former Royal Bank of Canada chief economist John McCallum said he did not believe the government had actually “tilled this ground.”
While federal departments have already gone through numerous rounds of belt- tightening in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis, McCallum said during a news conference in Ottawa, “There are always savings to be found. There are always ways to do things more efficiently.”
Both the Liberals and NDP have reached out to federal workers during the campaign, with Trudeau promising in an open letter last week that a Liberal government would treat public servants as partners rather than adversaries. The Liberals are hoping to make big gains in Ottawa.
Liberal candidate MaryAnn Mihychuk, a former Manitoba provincial minister, said the party is looking at a "reduction of consultants and outside services bought, and an attack on the public service is not in our agenda.”