The trio of Liberal speeches about the economy on Monday do not explain how the federal Liberals would eliminate the deficit, except by not cutting corporate tax; meanwhile, their catalogue of priorities sounds expensive. Ralph Goodale in Ottawa, Marc Garneau in Montreal and Scott Brison in Toronto all complained that Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Finance, had not presented a plausible plan for the reduction and elimination of the deficit plan, but this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
With somewhat more detail, almost two weeks earlier, Michael Ignatieff, the Leader of the Opposition, had promised $1-billion a year for his family home-care proposal, out of $6-billion a year to be saved by cancelling the latest cut in income tax on corporations.
The three Liberals criticized the Conservative government’s projections for nominal GDP in the next few years as too hopeful, which would suggest that they believe a balanced budget or small surplus is further away than Mr. Flaherty thinks, yet they and the Conservatives say they will end the budget deficit in the same fiscal year, 2015-2016.
As for reduced spending, the shadow cabinet ministers said they would not build new prisons or buy stealth fighters. Otherwise, they left the impression that they are calling for spending increases, with their sweeping priorities of learning, care and pensions.
Mr. Goodale accused the government of “attempting to downplay its obligations” on health care. This was an apparent reference to Mr. Flaherty’s declining last week to exclude the possibility of a lessening in the growth rate of federal health-care and social transfers to the provinces after fiscal year 2013-2014, when the current federal-provincial agreement will expire. Thus, the Liberal deputy leader came close to tying his own party’s hands if the Liberals return to power and are the ones negotiating with the provinces – not a prudent move on the spending front.
Unfortunately, this week’s speaking trilogy has done little to advance the public-finance debate or to elaborate on the ways the Liberals and the Conservatives differ.
