Liberals lack transparency with big-ticket summer spending announcements, critics say
Economist estimates Ottawa has committed over $40B since last fiscal update
Tens of billions of dollars' worth of announcements by the Liberal government this summer has critics and analysts calling out a lack of detail on Ottawa's spending plans.
Desjardins deputy chief economist Randall Bartlett published a note earlier this month adding up the Liberal government's spending announcements since the spring economic update in April.
By his account, Ottawa has committed to more than $40 billion in new spending over the coming decade since the last fiscal update. That analysis was published before some recent announcements.
Bartlett also noted the nature of the funding — the timelines, how funding is split between the federal government, provinces, Crown corporations and the private sector — isn't always clear.
WATCH | Champagne 'confident' about the economy:"All this raises reasonable concerns regarding the transparency of federal spending commitments. Indeed, Canadians likely won't know until the fall budget what these recent announcements mean for the government of Canada's bottom line," he said.
John Fragos, spokesperson for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, would not say whether Bartlett's math is accurate in a media statement.
He defended the federal government's reporting of fiscal plans in the fall budget and the spring economic statement.
"Despite reporting to the contrary, the government has provided detailed line-by-line spending analysis, reporting not only what the government has spent to support Canadians and sectors through this turbulent global economic environment, but likewise what the government has booked to spend in the years to come," Fragos said.
Conservative finance critic Michael Chong said in an interview on Wednesday that the Liberal government is the least transparent one Ottawa has seen in decades. He warned new spending will compound already rising deficits.
Chong alluded to Prime Minister Mark Carney's past experience in the financial sector to call out the Liberals' stewardship of the public purse.
"The government of Canada is not a private investment bank. It's a government whose finances are to be public. And Mr. Carney needs to be a lot more transparent about the spending he's announced in recent months," he said.
Chong said that if the Liberals are proposing tens of billions of dollars in new spending, that should be tabled in the House of Commons for analysis by MPs and the parliamentary budget officer.
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Fragos argued that the Liberal government must respond quickly to the current moment of global economic disruption and announcements can't always wait until Parliament is sitting.
"It's worth reiterating that Canada is moving at pace and with urgency to respond in real time to an unprecedented and ever volatile global economic challenge. This has necessitated advancing key proposals and measures in between fiscal documents," he said.
Fragos also said the government has been transparent and insists Ottawa's new capital budget framework gives Canadians a clearer picture of how federal revenues are being invested to support the economy and workers.