“I want the government to spend less so Canadians can afford to live.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
Finance
A debate about the federal budget and debt. The Conservatives accused the Liberals of excessive spending and mismanaging finances, while the Liberals defended their record and touted specific investments and projects. Much of the discussion consisted of partisan sniping and accusations rather than substantive policy debate.
“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later. Look at all these numbers. The economy is doing very, very well. The government is doing a great job.”
“I want to pile on bad news to make the government look bad. Food banks! Children! The government is spending more and Canadians are getting less. This is all the government's fault.”
“You're a big, big hypocrite for talking about hungry children. I'm mad because your party voted no on the school food program I like. Shame. I want my food program to pass and for you to feel bad for not supporting it.”
“You say you'll spend less and invest more, but you just call your spending whatever you want. You put another 65 billion on Canada's credit card. Now we spend more on debt interest than health care. Are you actually proud of this?”
“We're spending a lot, but look at these other numbers that sound pretty good! We're doing better than some other places. You can't be mad about it if I say this.”
“The Liberals are manipulating numbers to hide their terrible deficit. Everything is worse under them, including high household debt. Why do they keep racking up debt and spending more on interest than health care?”
“I'm filling time by talking about a big expensive community center my government spent $64 million to build. It will create some construction jobs. This is what I say Canadians expect.”
“Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland were so embarrassed by the deficit projection that they both resigned instead of facing it. Now we have another bad budget with double the deficit. After 10 years, the Liberals are still spending and borrowing recklessly. When will the Prime Minister admit nothing has changed?”
“Our plan is to double exports to countries other than the U.S. in 10 years. We want Canada's energy sector, including Alberta, to play a big role. More oil is being shipped through the Trans Mountain pipeline to Asia.”
“I want you to admit that your budget spends too much. Even Andrew Coyne thinks the economy is in decline and that you're not doing anything about it. Will you stop spending so much?”
“You want to spend less? Which program in your own province should we cut first? I'd like to see you explain that to voters. We want to keep spending everywhere.”
“A person in my riding is unhappy. They don't like the direction Canada is going. I agree with them. Government spending is too high and it's causing more debt. The current Prime Minister is just as bad as the previous one. The government should spend less so Canadians can afford to live.”
“I'm filling time by talking about how great our military spending is. I don't want to answer the real question about government spending being too high. I'll just pretend the other side doesn't care about the military.”