Poilievre offers two hours on Monday for Freeland to present fall economic statement

By Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press on December 4, 2024.

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is offering to give up time on an opposition day in the House of Commons to allow Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to present the fall fiscal update.

Poilievre says he will allow Freeland two hours to present the fall economic statement on Monday – a day allocated for Conservatives to present their own motions in Parliament.

The Conservative leader says he’ll give up that time so the government can tell Canadians whether it kept a promise to cap the federal deficit at $40 billion.

The parliamentary budget officer is projecting the government will exceed its own fiscal guardrail with a deficit of $46.8 billion for the previous fiscal year.

A senior government official says delivering a fall economic statement less than 48 hours before a Bank of Canada interest rate announcement would be “irresponsible and not a serious suggestion.”

Freeland has not yet announced a date for the fiscal update, telling reporters on Tuesday that the filibuster in Parliament is standing in the way of the government’s work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.

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