Carney’s new finance minister can’t say how his government would balance the budget

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne speaks on fiscal responsibility, government cuts, and scrapping the carbon tax.

Newly minted Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne could not detail how the federal government under new Prime Minister Mark Carney will balance the budget, but says he will “be like a hawk in the spending.”

“It’s a new era of fiscal responsibility. This is a completely new era in Canada,” Champagne said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday. “We have been clear. We’re going to spend less. We’re going to invest more. We’re going to build Canada tomorrow.”

Champagne was appointed to the finance portfolio on Friday – moments after Carney was sworn-in as prime minister – and assumes the role from now International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who had been in place since just the end of December.

Carney has pledged to rein in government spending by balancing what he characterizes as the federal government’s operating budget in three years, while running a “small deficit” with a capital budget, which he has said would include long-term investments.

The new prime minister has also promised to accelerate defence spending and maintain transfer payments to the provinces and territories, as well as keep childcare, pharmacare and dental care investments made under the Trudeau government.

When asked directly by host Vassy Kapelos on what would be cut to balance the budget in three years, Champagne would only say “we’re going to do things differently.”

“We’re going to say there’s a difference between spending and investment,” he added.

Pressed repeatedly on how the federal government will accomplish fiscal responsibility, Champagne wouldn’t answer directly, but insisted “it’s a very different frame.”

“We’re going to be very transparent with Canadians. But the message today is that this is a kind of a reset, in a way,” Champagne said. “It’s an era of fiscal responsibility where we’re going to invest in ourselves.”

To balance the operating budget, Carney has said he would cap the size of the federal public service and review spending.

Asked whether a Carney government will cut the public service, Champagne did not commit directly, but said “we’re going to look at the books.”

“I’m going to be like a hawk in the spending to make sure that whatever we have to do, we have to do to protect the country,” Champagne said. “On the other end, I’m very much focused on the other side of the equation, which is the investment.”

Champagne also said his goal is to “build the economy for resiliency to have a strong economy.”

Carney, who served as an economic adviser to the Liberal Party and former prime minister Justin Trudeau, has been critical of the federal government’s spending priorities since launching his Liberal leadership bid.

At a campaign event last month, Carney said, “it is clear that the federal government is spending too much” and acknowledged “the government has missed many of its spending targets.”

According to the fall economic statement released in December, the federal deficit for 2024-25 is projected to be $48.3 billion.

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who served in the Trudeau government, previously set a fiscal anchor of $40.1 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which was not met and hit $61.9 billion.