Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives haven’t ruled out supporting other Liberal government measures, including their plans for a cut to personal income taxes.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party will vote against the federal government’s request to spend $486.9-billion on government programs and transfers.
Mr. Poilievre’s announcement that his party won’t support what’s called the main estimates will be an early test of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority mandate.
The Liberals have 169 seats in the House of Commons, three short of a majority. The Conservatives are the Official Opposition, with 144 seats, while the Bloc Québécois hold 22, the New Democrats seven and the Green Party one.
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To pass anything through the Commons, the Liberals will therefore need the support of MPs from other parties.
The estimates show spending up from $449.2-billion presented in the previous year’s main estimates, and Mr. Poilievre said that was unacceptable.
“The extra spending Mr. Carney has asked Parliament’s approval on is not for investments. It’s for money that’s out the door and gone forever, almost all of it on bureaucratic administration and other high priced consultants,” he said.
“That is totally irresponsible.”
Mr. Carney became prime minister upon winning Liberal leadership in March. It’s unclear how much time he would have had to influence the estimates.
Still, Mr. Poilievre criticized Mr. Carney for asking for more money when the Prime Minister is not tabling a budget until the fall.
“We continue to hold on hope the government will change direction, and that’s why we’re calling on them to introduce a budget this spring, like has always been done,” he said.
The Conservatives haven’t ruled out supporting other Liberal government measures, including their plans for a cut to personal income taxes.
The Liberal Party’s April campaign platform is the most recent public document outlining how Mr. Carney’s promises will affect Ottawa’s bottom line.
That platform outlined nearly $130-billion in new spending and tax cuts over four years, or about $32-billion per year on average.
The Liberal platform projected a deficit of 1.96 per cent of GDP ($62.3-billion) this fiscal year, followed by 1.83 per cent of GDP ($59.9-billion) the next year.
The estimates were tabled on Tuesday after the Throne Speech. They provide departments with a base level of funding, but they are not the complete picture of federal spending because they will be followed later in the year by supplementary estimates.
With a report from Bill Curry