Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard puts on his skates as a tradition to have new shoes for the budget speech, on the eve of his budget speech, on March 9, 2020, at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Quebec’s Eric Girard will be the first Canadian finance minister to deliver a budget in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and crashes in the stock and oil markets. All signs point to him opening up spending on Tuesday to try to ease the economic shock.
Mr. Girard used a twist on the traditional finance minister’s purchase of new shoes on the eve of a budget by putting new blades on his hockey skates. Before taking a swift tour around an ice oval in Quebec City, he revealed no details, but pointed out that five consecutive balanced budgets put the province in “an enviable position to increase spending on health, education and infrastructure.”
Premier François Legault made it clearer the government will flood the province with taxpayer money. The Premier said Quebec has a $14-billion stabilization reserve in place for such crises and will dip into it if necessary to stimulate the economy.
‘’We are worried about economic impact. We can see the global economy is contracting, that international markets are dropping, so there is less money,” Mr. Legault said. “We are ready to face risk. We have to accelerate spending in a time of uncertainty.”
Most provinces do not share Quebec’s enviable position. The Parliamentary Budget Officer reported last month that most provinces were not in a sustainable financial position. Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia are on a sustainable path, the PBO said, but “all other provinces and territories have current fiscal policies that are not sustainable over the long term.”
The premiers meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later this week, where they will outline their short-term needs in responding to the virus, but the premiers will also renew long-standing calls for Ottawa to increase the rate of growth of the $40.4-billion health transfer.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Monday that while Ottawa is aware of those demands, the federal government views that as a separate conversation from addressing the provinces’ short-term public-health needs.
British Columbia’s budget delivered Feb. 19 forecast a thin surplus of $227-million amid lagging economic growth before the province became a hotspot for new COVID-19 cases in Canada.
Alberta’s budget delivered two weeks ago projected a $6.8-billion deficit amid low oil prices that plunged further on Monday. Premier Jason Kenney said Monday that all options are on the table to support the provincial economy in the face of the crash in the province’s key commodity.
Saskatchewan’s budget will be unveiled March 18.
Manitoba’s Minister of Finance Scott Fielding follows Mr. Girard on Wednesday. He said his budget will build upon previous efforts to increase what the province calls a “rainy day” fund. “This Wednesday, we will announce the most emergency-ready budget in Manitoba history,” he said.
Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips, due to deliver his government’s second budget on March 25, said COVID-19 could throw off growth forecasts, which are now more than a month old.
The budget is expected to forecast the province is ahead of schedule on its plan to balance its books by 2023. The 2019-20 deficit was expected to come in lower than the $9-billion estimated last fall, because of strong tax revenues. Mr. Phillips would not commit to scrapping the cuts to public-health units, but he pledged enough resources would be available to keep Ontarians safe.
“We’ve been very prudent about our financial planning,” Mr. Phillips told reporters at Queen’s Park. “We are very committed to balancing in 2023. But let’s be clear: When it comes to the health and safety of Ontarians, nothing is more important. So we’ll have to make adjustments if they’re required.”
Two Atlantic Canadian provinces – Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador – have yet to deliver their budgets for 2020-21. While the region hasn’t reported a case of the new coronavirus, the larger economic slowdown is already having an impact on tourism and seafood exports, two important industries on the East Coast.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the collapsing price of offshore oil has hit hard. The sudden resignation of Premier Dwight Ball has delayed the provincial budget. His minority government is proposing a six-month, $4.6-billion interim supply bill to keep government running, but the likelihood of a snap spring election appears to be growing.
Nova Scotia, meanwhile, last month forecast a surplus of $55-million on a budget of $11.5-billion, blaming slowing economic growth on the closure of the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County and its impact on the forestry industry.
New Brunswick tabled its budget Monday projecting a $125-million surplus, although the province’s Finance Minister admits that projection was calculated before the current economic situation.
With reports from Jeff Gray, Bill Curry and Marieke Walsh
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