Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page in 2012. Page says Ottawa's debt position is strong compared to other G7 countries and previous Canadian governments.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The former parliamentary budget officer says Ottawa has room to run steeper deficits in the upcoming federal budget, despite concerns raised by the current fiscal watchdog.
Kevin Page published a piece in Policy Magazine this week arguing that considerable levels of economic uncertainty mean Canada must meet a “hinge moment” in the upcoming budget, set for Nov. 4.
Page says Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to deliver a budget that inspires Canadians’ confidence and trust and argues that shift will require significant taxpayer resources.
PBO welcomes shift to fall budgets, but says capital spending definition ‘overly expansive’
Interim PBO Jason Jacques told parliamentarians last month that he believes Ottawa’s pace of spending is “unsustainable” and he predicts the deficit will rise to nearly $70-billion for this fiscal year.
But Page writes that there is “no fiscal crisis” in Canada.
He argues instead that Canada has the fiscal room to finance the economy’s path forward and that the federal government’s debt position is strong compared to other G7 nations and previous governments led by Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney.