When a government follows policies that lead to deficit, there is an immediate positive effect from a strictly macroeconomic point of view. If the government puts more money in the economy, it is as if consumers and businesses were putting more money in the economy.
The only reason why a reversal of the policy of fiscal restraint might have negative effects is the psychological factor. Some of my colleagues mentioned the idea of trust. Of course, if consumers and businesses think that a higher government deficit could have a negative effect on the economic, this sort of expectation could be self-fulfilling. But from a strictly economic perspective, if we didn't have this psychological factor... At any rate, under the current circumstances, this is clearly the only way out.
Some have said that consumer spending in Canada cannot really go up because Canadian households are already carrying debt. Business investment in Canada is at a standstill. Nothing is happening. So our exports are going to drop. Things are not going well in the United States and they are not going well in Europe either. So the only thing left is public spending.