Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with leaders of opposition parties ahead of a budget speech Wednesday as his government prepares to table its first spending plan early next month.
Carney has already met with leaders of the NDP, Bloc Québécois and the Green party, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, and the prime minister will also meet privately with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about the budget Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking after a caucus meeting, Poilievre said he is meeting with the prime minister in “a spirit of collaboration.”
“I’m going to sit down with him today, and if he takes my suggestions of bringing down the deficit to the level the Liberal government promised, of getting rid of the hidden taxes, well, then let’s have a look at it [the budget],” he said.
Carney, Poilievre face off in question period ahead of closed-door meeting on Nov. 4 budget
The meeting comes ahead of Carney’s overseas trip to attend two multinational summits in Southeast Asia that will last from this Friday until shortly before the government tables the budget on Nov. 4.
But before he leaves, Carney is expected to address a group of Canadian university students Wednesday night and discuss his government’s approach to the upcoming budget.
Liberals have repeatedly called the budget “generational,” as the party lays the groundwork for what’s expected to be an expansion of the federal deficit.
Liberal House leader Steve MacKinnon said Tuesday he’s starting to worry about drumming up enough support from opposition benches to pass the budget. The minority Liberals will need the support of at least one other party.
Because it is a confidence vote, Canadians could be facing another election if the budget were to fail, but MacKinnon has dismissed demands from opposition parties as “ludicrous.”
On Monday, Poilievre penned a letter to Carney saying he wants to see an “affordable budget” that includes broad tax cuts and keeps the deficit under $42 billion.
The letter also said that “hidden taxes on food” are pricing people out of groceries and called on the government to scrap various taxes affecting food production, including the industrial carbon tax on fertilizer and farm equipment.
Meanwhile, the Bloc Québécois has said their party has six key priorities for the budget.
They include an increase to the federal health transfer to the provinces, new infrastructure investments, an expansion of the rapid housing initiative, interest-free loans for first-time homebuyers and boosting Old Age Security payments for those ages 65 to 75.
