Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. Freeland is hosting an in-person meeting Friday with the provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
TORONTO – Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the provinces and territories need to chip in to Canada’s response to the U.S.’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes electric-vehicle incentives that favour manufacturers in Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S.
Speaking after an in-person meeting with the provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto, Freeland said the Act has created an economic opportunity that Canada needs to seize in order to have an outsized share of the clean economy of the century.
Freeland said the investments needed for health care and the investments needed for the transition to a clean economy are two big pressures on the federal budget.
She said its clear that the federal government needs to invest in health care and reiterated the government’s commitment to doing so but would not say whether she thinks the amount the provinces are asking for in increased health transfers is feasible.
Freeland said these pressures come at a time of a global economic slowdown which poses restraint on government spending.
The meeting of finance ministers comes at a tense time for many Canadian consumers, with inflation still running hot and interest rates much higher than they were a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023.
