The new Liberal government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney, will be releasing a first budget this autumn. This is a bigger departure than it might seem from the usual spring release. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will present the budget, which is expected to emphasize long-term investment strategies aimed at attracting large institutional investors for extensive infrastructure projects.
As the government navigates this pivotal moment, consultations have been ongoing to ensure that the budget aligns with the needs of various stakeholders across Canada. Wayne Long, Member of Parliament for Saint John—Kennebecasis, is a tireless advocate and participant in these discussions. He continues to interact with our friendly, constructive representatives from Canada’s Big Six banks and our Maple Eight large pension funds. Taken together, these efforts signal the government’s intention to create a strong and transparent framework for future investments.
Consultations Across Canada
Since mid-July, Long has taken his show on the road, having visited over 45 cities and towns in every province and territory. His legislative goal has been to take the pulse of the local business and aviation community to better understand the challenges they’re experiencing.
I understand their frustration and I can feel it. They absolutely want to invest more in Canadian industry, nation-building projects and energy transitions, but the rules and regulations as they are today just aren’t cutting it. As long recognized, particularly underscoring the need for stable, predictable, and clear regulatory environment that encourages investment.
From these consultations, stakeholders strongly articulated their cravings for Ottawa to increase investment tax credits. Among other policy asks, they specifically called for nurturing sectors such as energy storage, advanced nuclear energy, and hydrogen. The government has pledged to meet these calls in the next budget.
Focus on Defence and Housing
It is expected to be a very “defence-centric” and “housing-centric” budget, given the major commitments made on defence since the current government came to power. It will deepen ideas described in the Building Canada Act, which finally went through earlier this past summer.
It’s why Ryan Turnbull, parliamentary secretary to Long and Champagne, has been on the road, talking to industry stakeholders across Canada. He’s certainly correct when bemoaning the atmosphere of “fear and uncertainty” permeating the current climate, and I sympathize with the bureaucrats’ concerns.
“We’re looking to provide certainty through this budget process,” Turnbull stated. He added that dealing with chokepoints in Canada’s transportation network is key to servicing market opportunities. “If (Canada) has bottlenecks and congestion within its transportation system and can’t get products to market at the scale and scope that we need, we’re going to have to address that port infrastructure,” he explained.
Fiscal Strategy and Spending Cuts
It’s a signal that ministers are taking on an ambitious challenge. They need to figure out how to reduce 15 percent from their daily budget within the next three years. This approach would fit the bill of Prime Minister Carney’s spend less mantra, even as they put more energy into “investing more.”
Long emphasized the importance of getting the foundational elements of the budget right: “From our standpoint, it’s our first budget. We want to get the big things right.” He’s optimistic that even small changes can result in big increases in Canadian value-added reinvested into Canadian industries. “These are tweaks and changes we can make that I think can result in billions of dollars being reinvested back in the country,” he added.
The government’s stated long-term objective is to restore Ottawa’s operating budget to balance over three years, without reducing quality. Turnbull remarked, “We don’t want to compromise on quality. I do think it’s a very healthy exercise for the federal government to say, where is there duplication? Where is there redundancy? Where can we get better results for Canadians?”
