Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says it’s a promise of deficits in exchange for investment.
“Our economy needs investment to create growth. Our plan features three years of historic investment in the Canadian economy.”
But a closer look shows infrastructure makes up just a small part of the Liberal plan.
Of $33-billion in new spending next year, just $5-billion is for infrastructure.
In other words, infrastructure investments make up just 15-per-cent of new spending and half of the projected $10-billion deficit.
What about the rest?
Most of it is new program spending, and the shortfall from tax cuts and benefits they’re promising to hand out.
Spending vs Revenue
While the Liberals are promising to make some big tax cuts and hand out large benefit cheques, much of it will be covered by rolling back existing benefits.
In fact, next year, if the party forms government, it hopes to bring in $18-billion by getting rid of the Universal Child Care Benefit, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and the National Child Benefit Supplement.
Another $2.8-billion will come from increasing taxes for those making more than $200,000 a year, as well as another $2-billion from cancelling income splitting for families.
When you take into account the $25.5-billion in new spending, that’s a shortfall of $2.75-billion, which makes up another big part of the projected $10-billion deficit in year one.
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