Overview
- Tuesday’s budget is a confidence vote that could trigger an election, and the Liberals, three seats short of a majority, still lack the votes to pass it.
- From the APEC summit in South Korea, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he is ready to campaign and declared he is 100 percent confident the plan is right for Canada.
- The fiscal blueprint pairs large defence increases toward long‑term NATO targets with a new presentation that aims to balance the operating account within three years, financed partly by departmental cuts rising from 7.5 percent to 15 percent by 2028‑29.
- The deficit is projected to be sizable, with the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimating a $46 billion shortfall this year and $75 billion next year, and outside experts cautioning it could be larger.
- Opposition parties are weighing their stance, with Conservatives setting conditions and saying they prefer to avoid an election now, New Democrats balking at cuts, the Bloc in discussions with the government, and the plan framed as reducing U.S. reliance after tariff shocks as Carney apologized to the U.S. president over an Ontario ad that disrupted talks.