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Dan-in-Ottawa

Albas echoes his party leader's call for an immediate federal election

MP wants an election now

To say this has been a highly unusual and dramatic week in Ottawa would be putting it mildly.

The week's expected major news event was the federal finance minister's long-overdue fall economic statement. Instead, many in Ottawa awoke Monday morning to news that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had tendered her resignation from cabinet to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This was no ordinary resignation. In her letter, the former finance minister revealed Trudeau fired her from the portfolio the previous Friday and offered her what many considered a demotion.

Even more alarming, Freeland expressed her strong disagreement with Trudeau's fiscal measures, stating that they were "costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment."

The development is widely attributed to Trudeau's plans for increased borrowing and spending on new initiatives—including the (current) temporary GST “holiday" and the proposed $250 worker rebate program—which have faced strong opposition from economists and other stakeholders.

Freeland's sudden resignation triggered chaos within both the government and Liberal caucus.

While there is internal and external pressure on the prime minister to resign, it remains unclear what he will do next. However, he has already appointed a new finance minister—his longtime personal friend and New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc.

The Fall Economic Statement was, in a word, devastating for Canadians. Some speculate the former finance minister's refusal to endorse the document may have contributed to the tension between her and the prime minister.

In its previous fiscal updates, the government firmly guaranteed the deficit for the past fiscal year would not exceed $40 billion. The government referred to this $40 billion deficit limit as a "fiscal guardrail”.

Fast forward to this week and Canadians were shocked to discover the deficit for 2023-24 reached $62 billion—almost $22 billion more than the Liberals promised to spend last year.

Keep in mind last year's target deficit of $40 billion—the so-called "fiscal guardrail"—was neither imposed nor suggested by the Conservative official Opposition. It was designed to reassure markets and economists, despite blowing past its own previously designated fiscal “anchor.”

The $40 billion “fiscal guardrail” deficit was the spending limit imposed by the government on itself. The fact the government massively, and completely, failed to achieve even its own fiscal targets is evidence of a government completely out of fiscal control.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the “common sense” Conservatives, called for an immediate vote on the Fall Economic Statement before Parliament rose for the Winter constituency break. Unfortunately, the prime minister and his house leader did not respond to this request.

While Conservatives have consistently voted non-confidence in the government, the events of this week have changed minds, particularly the leader of the NDP. Despite Jagmeet Singh and his caucus supporting the government as recently as last week, granting the government an additional $26 billion in new spending, there has been a change of heart and (Singh) called for the resignation of Trudeau, inducing whiplash on the prime minister and his cabinet.

So what do I think?

With the government in such turmoil from this ministerial resignation, coupled with worsening economic conditions and impending trade threats from China and the United States, an election would give the winner a fresh mandate and stronger hand in dealing with a multitude of domestic and international challenges.

Simply put, the country is in trouble and half measures in Parliament would only amount to—as one constituent put it—"shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic." That is why I rose on Tuesday and publicly called on the NDP leader to stop propping up the government and vote non-confidence at the earliest opportunity.

My question this week:

Would you prefer to see Prime Minister Trudeau resign—triggering an internal Liberal Party leadership process as suggested by Jagmeet Singh—or would you prefer a federal election?

I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll-free 1-800-665-8711.

Dan Albas is the Conservative MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



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About the Author

Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola and the co-chair of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.

Before entering public life, Dan was the owner of Kick City Martial Arts, responsible for training hundreds of men, women and youth to bring out their best.

Dan  is consistently recognized as one of Canada’s top 10 most active Members of Parliament on Twitter (@danalbas) and also continues to write a weekly column published in many local newspapers and on this website.

Dan welcomes comments, questions and concerns from citizens and is often available to speak to groups and organizations on matters of federal concern. 

He can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free at 1-800-665-8711.



The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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