(Ottawa) Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the federal government’s next budget on Thursday, April 7.
Posted at 2:54 p.m.
Mme Freeland confirmed the date for the next budget on Tuesday during question period in the House of Commons. This will be her second budget since she was appointed to the helm of the Ministry of Finance in August 2020.
“Our government was re-elected on a promise to grow our economy, make life more affordable and continue to build a Canada where no one is left behind. This is exactly what we are doing and this is what we will continue to do in the budget that I will be presenting on April 7,” said the Minister in response to a question from a Liberal colleague.
Minister Freeland will therefore table the federal budget in an economic context marked by the war in Ukraine, a health crisis that continues to disrupt the supply chain, persistent inflation and social spending that will jump in the coming years due to the agreement between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh that ensures the survival of the minority Liberal government for the next three and a half years.
Mme Freeland is also expected to announce an increase in military spending in this budget, as the Trudeau government is under intense pressure for Canada to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, as mandated by the rules of defense. membership in NATO. Currently, Canada spends about 1.4% of its GDP on military spending. The Defense budget was $24.3 billion in 2021-22.
The budget must also give more details on the 9.1 billion allocated for the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions presented on Tuesday. Measures totaling a sum of 1.5 billion remain to be specified.
Provincial pressure
At the same time, M.me Freeland must also come to terms with pressure from provincial premiers, who are calling for a substantial increase in federal transfers intended to fund health care.
Hours before Minister Freeland’s announcement, Premiers launched “an awareness campaign” about the urgent need for increased funding for health care.
“Health care directly affects people. We need to ensure that our health care systems are able to provide our citizens with the services they need, when they need them,” said British Columbia Premier John Horgan, who is the President of the Council of the Federation.
“Increased, predictable, long-term funding will make a tangible difference in the lives of Canadians. The health care access issues faced by Canadians during the pandemic have highlighted the pressures on our health care systems that will continue unless the federal government increases its funding,” he said. -he adds.
For the past few months, the provinces have been urging the federal government to pay at least 35% of the total health care bill, compared to around 22% at present. Such an increase would lead to an annual increase in health transfers of $26 billion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he’s open to discussing the transfer hike, but only after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, much to the chagrin of provincial premiers.
With the collaboration of Mylène Crête, The Press