Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the government campaigned on a promise to “run modest...deficits of less than $10 billion...to fund historic investments in infrastructure” and then let the budget balance itself. For 10 years the Liberals ran increasing deficits, failed to build the infrastructure, ignored their promise and claimed that all that really mattered was declining debt to GDP. In 2024, the then finance minister said that the then $42-billion deficit was a line she would not cross, but then she crossed the line and resigned when the deficit hit $60 billion.
Last year the Prime Minister ran as the guy who would finally rein in spending, reduce debt to GDP and build at speeds not seen in decades. Today the deficit is $80 billion, debt to GDP ratio is rising and nothing is being built. Canada's economy is under attack, and Canadians need their government to succeed, but a strong, sovereign, self-reliant and fiscally sustainable Canada cannot be built out of recycled, broken Liberal promises.