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Carney government’s throne speech—different delivery, same old approach to policy

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From the Fraser Institute

By Jake Fuss and Grady Munro

For the first time in nearly 70 years, the speech from the throne—which marks the opening of a new Parliament and lays out the government’s policy priorities for the coming term—was delivered directly by Canada’s sovereign, King Charles III, as opposed to the governor general (his representative in Canada). A key theme throughout the speech was the idea of change, and that the Carney government has the opportunity to transform the Canadian economy.

But while Canada certainly needs change, peeling back the rhetoric reveals the government plans to utilize much of the same strategies as its predecessor when addressing the country’s problems. Consider the following three examples.

A New Fiscal Approach

Throughout the election, and again during the throne speech, the Carney government promised a new fiscal principle that will guide all of its actions—“spend less to invest more.” This “new fiscal discipline” is intended to depart from the fiscal approach of the previous government—which Prime Minister Mark Carney has said spent “too much.” To “spend less,” the government plans to split spending into two separate budgets—an operating and capital budget—and slow growth in operating spending to balance the operating budget over the next three years.

The problem is the government’s fiscal math simply doesn’t add up. In the speech, the government commits to major new investments in national defence and law enforcement, and personal income tax cuts—all of which put pressure on the budget. The government rightly identifies the need to cut spending elsewhere to offset this pressure, but essentially hamstrings efforts to rein in spending by taking approximately three-quarters of the budget—including (but not limited to) all transfers to provinces, territories and individuals, and major programs such as national dental care, pharmacare and daycare—off the table.

What is the result of the Carney government’s new fiscal approach? The government will spend more in total, run larger deficits and take on more debt over the next four years than was previously planned by the Trudeau government. Constantly hitting the gas on spending and debt is the same strategy that Carney’s predecessor employed time and time again.

Building the Strongest Economy in the G7

According to the throne speech, the government’s “core mission” is to “build the strongest economy in the G7.” Part of the government’s plan to do this is by removing internal trade barriers—something that has been long overdue—but there’s only so much the federal government can do, as much of the work must be done by the provinces. Missing from the speech was a comprehensive plan to reform and reduce taxes to promote economic growth, along with a clear commitment to dismantle the costly regulatory regime of the Trudeau government.

Canada’s tax system represents a significant drag on the Canadian economy, and while the Carney government plans to lower the bottom federal personal income tax (PIT) rate from 15 per cent to 14 per cent, this change will do little to increase economic growth because it will not meaningfully improve the economic incentives to work, save and invest, nor will it make Canada much better at attracting and retaining professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs. More ambitious and broad-based reforms and tax cuts are needed to make a meaningful impact on growth.

Similarly, it’s unclear whether the Carney government is willing to meaningfully depart from the regulatory regime of the Trudeau government. A number of studies have highlighted how overburdensome regulations implemented under the previous government (including Bill C-69 and the federal emissions cap) act as a major deterrent for the investments and projects needed to grow the economy.

However, despite the Carney government’s commitments to “catalyze” investments and projects while making Canada an “energy superpower,” the government has sent mixed signals regarding its willingness to significantly depart from the previous government’s approach to regulation and the energy sector.

Expanding Role of Federal Government

During the last decade under the Trudeau government, Canada experienced one of the largest increases in the size of government of any advanced country, in large part due to the previous government’s tendency to expand the federal government’s role in the economy (national dental care, pharmacare, daycare, etc.). Unfortunately, the throne speech suggests the Carney government will repeat these mistakes and continue to expand the federal government’s role in the economy.

For example, the government plans to speed up the time it takes to approve major projects within Canada to incentivize new investments and grow the economy. However, instead of eliminating the costly and burdensome regulations that make it hard to build projects in Canada, the Carney government plans to create a new government entity—the Major Federal Project Office—to reduce approval times. In other words, the government will create more bureaucracy and regulation to try and solve a problem created by too much regulation.

Similarly, in its efforts to spur new homebuilding, the Carney government will create another new federal entity called Build Canada Homes, which will “get the government back in the business of building” by acting as a developer to build affordable housing while also providing financing to other affordable homebuilders. However, by increasing the federal government’s role in the economy, and continuing to expand bureaucratic influence, the government is unlikely to “catalyze” significant new homebuilding but it will likely expose taxpayers to significant risks.

Due to the presence of King Charles III, the delivery of this year’s speech from the throne differed significantly from years past. However, in substance, the Carney government promises much of the same.

Jake Fuss

Director, Fiscal Studies, Fraser Institute

Grady Munro

Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute

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Mark Carney’s Fiscal Fantasy Will Bankrupt Canada

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By Gwyn Morgan

Mark Carney was supposed to be the adult in the room. After nearly a decade of runaway spending under Justin Trudeau, the former central banker was presented to Canadians as a steady hand – someone who could responsibly manage the economy and restore fiscal discipline.

Instead, Carney has taken Trudeau’s recklessness and dialled it up. His government’s recently released spending plan shows an increase of 8.5 percent this fiscal year to $437.8 billion. Add in “non-budgetary spending” such as EI payouts, plus at least $49 billion just to service the burgeoning national debt and total spending in Carney’s first year in office will hit $554.5 billion.

Even if tax revenues were to remain level with last year – and they almost certainly won’t given the tariff wars ravaging Canadian industry – we are hurtling toward a deficit that could easily exceed 3 percent of GDP, and thus dwarf our meagre annual economic growth. It will only get worse. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates debt interest alone will consume $70 billion annually by 2029. Fitch Ratings recently warned of Canada’s “rapid and steep fiscal deterioration”, noting that if the Liberal program is implemented total federal, provincial and local debt would rise to 90 percent of GDP.

This was already a fiscal powder keg. But then Carney casually tossed in a lit match. At June’s NATO summit, he pledged to raise defence spending to 2 percent of GDP this fiscal year – to roughly $62 billion. Days later, he stunned even his own caucus by promising to match NATO’s new 5 percent target. If he and his Liberal colleagues follow through, Canada’s defence spending will balloon to the current annual equivalent of $155 billion per year. There is no plan to pay for this. It will all go on the national credit card.

This is not “responsible government.” It is economic madness.

And it’s happening amid broader economic decline. Business investment per worker – a key driver of productivity and living standards – has been shrinking since 2015. The C.D. Howe Institute warns that Canadian workers are increasingly “underequipped compared to their peers abroad,” making us less competitive and less prosperous.

The problem isn’t a lack of money; it’s a lack of discipline and vision. We’ve created a business climate that punishes investment: high taxes, sluggish regulatory processes, and politically motivated uncertainty. Carney has done nothing to reverse this. If anything, he’s making the situation worse.

Recall the 2008 global financial meltdown. Carney loves to highlight his role as Bank of Canada Governor during that time but the true credit for steering the country through the crisis belongs to then-prime minister Stephen Harper and his finance minister, Jim Flaherty. Facing the pressures of a minority Parliament, they made the tough decisions that safeguarded Canada’s fiscal foundation. Their disciplined governance is something Carney would do well to emulate.

Instead, he’s tearing down that legacy. His recent $4.3 billion aid pledge to Ukraine, made without parliamentary approval, exemplifies his careless approach. And his self-proclaimed image as the experienced technocrat who could go eyeball-to-eyeball against Trump is starting to crack. Instead of respecting Carney, Trump is almost toying with him, announcing in June, for example that the U.S. would pull out of the much-ballyhooed bilateral trade talks launched at the G7 Summit less than two weeks earlier.

Ordinary Canadians will foot the bill for Carney’s fiscal mess. The dollar has weakened. Young Canadians – already priced out of the housing market – will inherit a mountain of debt. This is not stewardship. It’s generational theft.

Some still believe Carney will pivot – that he will eventually govern sensibly. But nothing in his actions supports that hope. A leader serious about economic renewal would cancel wasteful Trudeau-era programs, streamline approvals for energy and resource projects, and offer incentives for capital investment. Instead, we’re getting more borrowing and ideological showmanship.

It’s no longer credible to say Carney is better than Trudeau. He’s worse. Trudeau at least pretended deficits were temporary. Carney has made them permanent – and more dangerous.

This is a betrayal of the fiscal stability Canadians were promised. If we care about our credit rating, our standard of living, or the future we are leaving our children, we must change course.

That begins by removing a government unwilling – or unable – to do the job.

Canada once set an economic example for others. Those days are gone. The warning signs – soaring debt, declining productivity, and diminished global standing – are everywhere. Carney’s defenders may still hope he can grow into the job. Canada cannot afford to wait and find out.

The original, full-length version of this article was recently published in C2C Journal.

Gwyn Morgan is a retired business leader who was a director of five global corporations.

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Carney Liberals quietly award Pfizer, Moderna nearly $400 million for new COVID shot contracts

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Carney’s Liberal government signed nearly $400 million in contracts with Pfizer and Moderna for COVID shots, despite halted booster programs and ongoing delays in compensating Canadians for jab injuries.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has awarded Pfizer and Moderna nearly $400 million in new COVID shot contracts.

On June 30th, the Liberal government quietly signed nearly $400 million contracts with vaccine companies Pfizer and Moderna for COVID jabs, despite thousands of Canadians waiting to receive compensation for COVID shot injuries.

The contracts, published on the Government of Canada website, run from June 30, 2025, until March 31, 2026. Under the contracts, taxpayers must pay $199,907,418.00 to both companies for their COVID shots.

Notably, there have been no press releases regarding the contracts on the Government of Canada website nor from Carney’s official office.

Additionally, the contracts were signed after most Canadians provinces halted their COVID booster shot programs. At the same time, many Canadians are still waiting to receive compensation from COVID shot injuries.

Canada’s Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) was launched in December 2020 after the Canadian government gave vaccine makers a shield from liability regarding COVID-19 jab-related injuries.

There has been a total of 3,317 claims received, of which only 234 have received payments. In December, the Canadian Department of Health warned that COVID shot injury payouts will exceed the $75 million budget.

The December memo is the last public update that Canadians have received regarding the cost of the program. However, private investigations have revealed that much of the funding is going in the pockets of administrators, not injured Canadians.

A July report by Global News discovered that Oxaro Inc., the consulting company overseeing the VISP, has received $50.6 million. Of that fund, $33.7 million has been spent on administrative costs, compared to only $16.9 million going to vaccine injured Canadians.

The PHAC’s downplaying of jab injuries is of little surprise to Canadians, as a 2023 secret memo revealed that the federal government purposefully hid adverse effect so as not to alarm Canadians.

The secret memo from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Privy Council Office noted that COVID jab injuries and even deaths “have the potential to shake public confidence.”

“Adverse effects following immunization, news reports and the government’s response to them have the potential to shake public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout,” read a part of the memo titled “Testing Behaviourally Informed Messaging in Response to Severe Adverse Events Following Immunization.”

Instead of alerting the public, the secret memo suggested developing “winning communication strategies” to ensure the public did not lose confidence in the experimental injections.

Since the start of the COVID crisis, official data shows that the virus has been listed as the cause of death for less than 20 children in Canada under age 15. This is out of six million children in the age group.

The COVID jabs approved in Canada have also been associated with severe side effects, such as blood clots, rashes, miscarriages, and even heart attacks in young, healthy men.

Additionally, a recent study done by researchers with Canada-based Correlation Research in the Public Interest showed that 17 countries have found a “definite causal link” between peaks in all-cause mortality and the fast rollouts of the COVID shots, as well as boosters.

Interestingly, while the Department of Health has spent $16 million on injury payouts, the Liberal government spent $54 million COVID propaganda promoting the shot to young Canadians.

The Public Health Agency of Canada especially targeted young Canadians ages 18-24 because they “may play down the seriousness of the situation.”

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