Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney outlining demands for the upcoming federal budget, including suspending federal taxes on diesel until Canada Day.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the federal government should eliminate all federal taxes on diesel until Canada Day, as part of a list of demands ahead of the budget being tabled on Nov. 5.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Poilievre also calls for suspending the GST on fuel until summer and permanently scrapping the fuel standard tax, saying the changes would save Canadians money.
Poilievre’s letter further urges the Liberal government to cut what he described as wasteful and inflationary spending, and to fulfil promises to reduce both the debt-to-GDP ratio and deficit-to-GDP.
He argues that keeping his word to reduce debt and deficit as a share of the economy is the “bare minimum” Carney can do, while pointing to predictions by the Parliamentary Budget Office about the government’s fiscal targets.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the government is expected to miss its fiscal anchor of maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio, with the office expecting the measure to rise in 2027-28 and 2029-30.
The office also projects a $63.3-billion deficit in fiscal 2026-27, down from a forecast of $71.8 billion in its June outlook, and it expects annual deficit levels to peak at $70.2 billion the following year.
Poilievre says Carney’s government has the biggest deficit ever outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the highest spending as a share of GDP since the 1990s debt crisis.
He also quotes the letter saying, “You promised affordability. Yet everything is more expensive since you took office. While you cannot control things outside Canada, your decisions at home have only made things worse.”
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the budget will “outline the next steps in our plan to build a stronger, more resilient and more affordable Canada.”
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