Deluge of federal pre-budget announcements draws fire from opposition, premiers
Several of the recent commitments would require provincial buy-in
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to face resistance from the Conservative opposition and some provincial leaders as time ticks down to the federal budget on April 16.
In a letter to the prime minister released on Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre again articulated his critique of the government's handling of a range of issues — from housing, to the carbon tax, to the economy more generally.
He said the federal government would need to meet three demands to gain Conservative support: abolishing the carbon tax; adopting a Conservative proposal on housing; and ending government spending that is not accompanied by equivalent cuts.
"Common Sense Conservatives will only agree to support the budget if these three conditions are met," Poilievre said in the letter. "It's time for you to turn the hurt your government has caused into the hope Canadians desperately need."
Trudeau has staunchly defended the carbon tax in recent weeks and is unlikely to accede to Poilievre's other proposals.
The NDP-Liberal supply-and-confidence agreement means that the governing Liberals will likely have enough support to pass budget legislation without support from other opposition parties.
Trudeau and federal ministers have been on a countrywide tour in recent weeks to make a series of pre-budget announcements. Many of those announcements have focused on housing, but Trudeau has also signalled the government's intent to launch a national school food program and invest in the artificial intelligence sector.
The announcements have often taken a campaign tone, with Trudeau frequently taking the opportunity to launch attacks on Poilievre.
"Pierre Poilievre has continued to promote austerity and cuts as the path forward for Canada and for Canadians. He is wrong," Trudeau said Sunday in Montreal following his announcement on AI spending.
He also defended his handling of the economy and deficit, which Poilievre has attacked.
"The job of an opposition leader is to criticize the government, we get that. But it's not to fearmonger," Trudeau said.
Some of the forthcoming budget measures have also run up against provincial opposition, which could pose a challenge.
The national school food program and various housing announcements would require provincial buy-in to be effective.
Carbon tax continues to animate premiers
In an interview that aired Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs said he would consider co-operating on the government's new housing infrastructure fund, but only if they could have an open discussion about it.
"I want to work with the federal government; I don't like the concept of bypassing the provincial government in order to make things happen in a way that [Trudeau] feels most productive," he told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
In a separate interview, Alberta cabinet minister Jason Nixon, whose portfolio includes housing, said the federal government was not investing equally across provinces, nor was it devoting sufficient resources to Indigenous communities. And he took exception to the government's approach to cross-jurisdictional issues.
"They've continued to come into our province, bypass the provincial government, try to work with municipalities or other providers directly. This is not appropriate," he said.
"This province will not be bribed by federal money to let the federal government continue to come into our province and enter our jurisdiction."
Premiers also continue to push the federal government on the carbon tax, which has for months been a point of contention between the Liberals and several provincial leaders.
Andrew Furey, the Liberal premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, sent a letter to Trudeau last week asking for an emergency federal-provincial meeting on the issue.
Higgs told Barton that premiers had not received a response on that request. He argued that the federal government should allow provinces flexibility in their approach to reducing emissions and take a global view — allowing exports like national gas to help reduce emissions in other countries.
Trudeau has challenged premiers calling for an end to the carbon tax to instead come up with their own domestic plans to reduce emissions.
"If the premiers want to propose — individually or collectively — another way of fighting climate change and supporting affordability for Canadians, I'm all ears," Trudeau said Sunday.
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