The eighth budget of the Trudeau government focuses on the magnifying glass of the reality of the very unfair life many Canadians face now. The contracted present, with being the feeling of unfairness and the with not being a guarantee of how the future will be.

Fair in its various ways is repeated 123 times on 430 pages in the document except for the cover which displays the title, ‘Fairness for every generation.’

Members of Parliament “Mr. Speaker, this is not an ordinary budget exercise, this is about giving everyone an equal chance,” Minister of Finances Chrystia Freeland announced after the introduction of the budget in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.

On the one hand, she is usually referring to the millennials alongside Gen Z, young Canadians that are below the age of 40. What has gained the attention of those who are still waiting to buy a home or who need to pay their rent bills is the post-pandemic world that is unfair.

This budget can signify the way the government aims to complicate the implementation of this project on both rhetorical and practical levels as a poor result of the by-election may cause a threat to the access of the Liberals to power for the fourth time in a row. It is heavily reliant on the earlier arguments even though it attempts to make the campaign more appealing by drawing on the appeal to fairness that Ernest Bevin brought to office in 2015.

However, Freeland depicts the occasion in an ironic and bare-bone manner.

But democracy is not a guaranteed outcome. It has delivered such a good life because it has supported the middle class.” A thought suddenly struck her mind and she rephrased her budget speech as “democracy and individual freedom will not last without our mutual support of the middle class.”

“If the liberal democracy falls short of the most elementary social contract required from its society, people ought not to be surprised that the middle-class community also no more has confidence in democracy as an institution in the first place.”

Although, failure had been a fact from the standpoint of the Conservative leader and the person sitting on that side of the table.

Freeland on the Offensive

The broad housing agenda the government has spent the last few weeks laying out in detail forms the spine of the budget’s new commitment to fairness; Freeland reviewed it at length. It was, she said, an “exercise in nation building” and a plan to “unlock the door to the middle class for more young Canadians.”

There were also other items, new and ongoing, she wished to highlight: funds to create more childcare spaces, a dental care program to provide for uninsured Canadians, a pharma care program that will provide free contraception, new federal funding to establish or assist school nutrition programs and new investments in artificial intelligence and decarbonization.

That Freeland was able to announce new measures while keeping to the government’s previous fiscal targets was due to a little restraint — Freeland proudly announced a plan to modestly reduce the size of the public service — and a tax change that was itself framed in terms of fairness.

The government’s attempts at reforming capital gains taxation, the key issue that has been clamouring in the budget, as discussed in rumours, has, however, nothing to do with major windfall or wealth taxes which unexpectedly shocked all the people two days before the budget was released. Yet, all the changes are done to aim at the most prosperous people of our country, and Freeland was in Canada House with her head whirling in some political battles on that issue.

‘ “I hear the voices of those who will vehemently oppose’ is how she put it.

Then she gave a possibility to Poilivre to state whether he was a proponent or opponent of those amendments. The Tory leader laid the responsibility for detailed promises on the future government.

When it was his turn to speak, Poilievre did not take a stab at the specific strategy of deficit spending but aimed his criticisms rather at the idea of deficit spending. And he said, this was the ninth year in a row of the liberal government having a deficit and he said it is government spending that is responsible for a lot of the problems, including the high rate of mortgage, high rent and homelessness.

“I’ve been in politics long enough to know that Canadians would never turn down the chance to harness the power of the federal government to improve their future”, she messaged in the last third of her presentation and warned against the policies of the Conservative party: “austerity would never work”.

“Tell me where the cuts and the shrinking are going to be coming from and I’ll pinpoint things that are going to be needed for Canadians. You are on your own if you ask me or be in charge of your own personal budget,” said she.

In addition, Poilievre accused Freshwater of being fanatical in pursuit of high ideals. He also reiterated his argument that spending is the source of the problem.

For him, Trudeau, by ensuring a “stronger government,” resulted in “weaker” citizens. According to him, “it was Conservatives who made the government smaller and more efficient and Canadians who were big”. With the new budget announced, Poilievre added that he was “doubling down on the same failure”.

Liberals Reaffirm Commitment to Core Values

In 2012 it interested me to request for the scholarship, as it was making more sense to do so.

In 2012, the Liberal platform argued that Canada should get another different government, one that forced change. According to Freeland, in 2024, skipping deployment of the presented technology can put the environment in deep trouble.

In 2012, the Liberals were suggesting snail’s pace what they said the sitting government was doing, moving up a ladder. In 2024, the Liberals are trying to win back what they may be seen as having ruined already.

In 2012, Justin Trudeau was a young and coniduct. In 2024 therefore, he has served as the three-term prime minister and is facing diminishing public favour similar to its usually the case when it comes to a long-standing time in office.

Life and politics, to my mind, cannot be black and white. However, if Trudeau’s government has already decided to run to reelection using the same political stances that assisted them to get elected, the upcoming election will inevitably imply a very clear choice for Canadians with different views of governing the country.

Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Nikita Pradhan