Poilievre offers two hours of House time Monday for Freeland to present fall economic statement

In absence of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister confirming a date to present a fall economic statement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is offering to give up two hours of scheduled opposition time next Monday to “tell us how much she’s lost control of the nation’s finances.”

Criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic management, Poilievre noted the government had yet to schedule the updated look at the federal government’s spending, revenues and budgetary balance, which is usually tabled before December.

“What’s she hiding? Is she hiding that Trudeau lost control of the deficit this year, just like every year?” Poilievre said to reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday ahead of a meeting with his caucus. “Common Sense Conservatives are calling for the finance minister to introduce a fall update to indicate whether she’s keeping her promise to cap the deficit at $40 billion.” 

Poilievre said his party would be willing to “cooperate” to allow Freeland to introduce the fall fiscal picture in the House on Monday, a day the Speaker has already designated an opposition day where the Conservatives will otherwise be advancing and forcing a debate on a non-confidence motion. 

“The challenge is over to Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau. Stand on your feet Monday at 4 p.m. – we’ll clear the deck so you can do it – and tell us how badly you’ve lost control of the nation’s finances and the inflation and taxes Canadians pay as a result,” Poilievre said.

Freeland has yet to comment on the offer, though several of her cabinet colleagues dismissed the push as a diversion, and suggested the Official Opposition may have ulterior motives.

“I always take what he says with a grain of salt,” said Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. “There’s always a hidden agenda.”

Nothing the Conservative-led filibuster that has blocked most House of Commons business now for months, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said Poilievre has “shown absolutely no regard for Canadians through many, many weeks of this Parliament.”

Treasury Board President and Transport Minister Anita Anand said Freeland is “working extremely hard, as are a number of us in government, to deliver that fall economic statement as soon as possible.”

“I’ll leave it to her to decide when to do that in the House of Commons. I don’t think that Pierre Poilievre’s offer is going to be what moves her to present her financial update and the fall economic statement to Canadians,” Anand said. “She’ll do it when she’s ready.” 

On her way into cabinet Government House Leader Karina Gould said it was the first she was hearing about Poilievre’s pitch.

“I’ll have to think about that… What I would say to them is that we should end the filibuster,” Gould said.

As the government’s point-person on scheduling House business, Gould said what would be more conducive to parliamentarians’ time would be for the Official Opposition to agree to allow the privilege motion regarding documents related to a now-defunct green technology fund, to come to a vote, so more work can get done.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Poilievre’s proposition “does not seem necessary at all” because Freeland can present the economic update “wherever she wants.”

But Blanchet said, “it would be relevant to have a better picture” of the Canadian economy “considering what the coming months might bring to Canada and Quebec.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, meanwhile, said he would like to see the update as soon as possible but it’s up to the federal government to decide.

On Tuesday, a senior government source told CTV News that the fall economic statement would be introduced next week, though Freeland’s office would not confirm that. Later on Tuesday, when asked repeatedly by reporters, the minister said she was “very keen and intent” on delivering the update, but said the ongoing standoff in the Commons was standing in her way.

In a statement to CTV News on Wednesday, Freeland’s deputy director of communications Katherine Cuplinkas said, “Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have irresponsibly shut down Parliament for weeks on end.”

“For them to suggest today that they’re interested in doing the business of Parliament is ridiculous after months of blocking its work. If they want to be serious about supporting Canadians, they can open Parliament for business,” Cuplinkas wrote.

According to a recent report from the parliamentary budget officer, the federal government is expected to run a deficit of $46.8 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year, which is more than the $40 billion projected in the April budget.

The update on the state of the country’s finances comes amid a commitment from the federal government to boost equipment and personnel resources at the Canada-U.S. border, that so far has lacked specifics on where the funding for this would be coming from.

The fiscal check-in also comes amid uncertainty about a recent pledge to give a $250 “Working Canadian Rebate” next spring to more than 18 million Canadians who worked and earned up to $150,000 in 2023 after the NDP said they wouldn’t support the affordability measure unless it’s expanded to include seniors and those with disabilities. The current price tag of the measure would be an estimated $4.7 billion.

When asked about the federal deficit, Blanchet said the federal government “should be careful about digging deeper and deeper in deficit, which is becoming quite a weight to carry.”

With files from CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos and Stephanie Ha