Globe & Mail [archived]: 'So ending unsustainable borrowing and getting federal finances on a prudent path is a critical task for the upcoming federal budget. As for a fiscal anchor, the best one is an end to deficits. The C.D. Howe Institute’s recent Shadow Federal Budget shows how the government can return to surplus by the 2024/25 fiscal year.
'Ending the red ink will require decisions of a kind this government has not made before. Cuts in unnecessary spending. Forgoing new programs announced but not yet funded. Letting the surge of revenue that the hot economy and high inflation have produced flow through to the bottom line, to ensure that current Canadians – the beneficiaries of pandemic spending – do not leave the entire bill to future Canadians.
'That will require political courage. But the guardrails were this government’s own idea. They laid them out. And now that the Canadian labour market has blown through them, the government is still powering ahead with borrowing. It is time for the Finance Minister to put us on the prudent path she promised.'