Opposition slams Liberals for having no plans to table budget soon

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OTTAWA — Opposition parties attacked Prime Minister Mark Carney Wednesday for being vague about his plans after his government said it would not table a federal budget before the House of Commons rises for the summer.

Following the first Liberal cabinet meeting after the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said instead of a spring budget, the government will put forward an economic statement in the fall.

The finance minister says the government will present a ways-and-means motion when Parliament returns in the coming weeks to introduce the tax cut the Liberals promised during the recent election. He did not explain why there won’t be a budget.

“What we have today is a middle-class tax cut. That’s step one. Step two, you’re going to have a throne speech where we will outline the Canadian government’s priorities, and there will be a fall economic statement to follow,” Champagne told reporters after the meeting.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and interim NDP leader Don Davies both said it’s unacceptable for Carney not to produce a fiscal plan any time soon.

“There is no road map forward, no economic vision and no willingness to lead,” Poilievre said in a media release. “The failure to table a budget in this moment is not just an oversight _ it’s a betrayal of workers and families across the country who expected this government to lay out its plan.”

Davies said Parliament needs to be able to scrutinize the Liberal government’s spending plans and Ottawa should not delay spending in light of the economic crisis brought about by U.S. tariffs.

“It’s Parliament’s most basic function to authorize and scrutinize spending. We need an economic plan tabled in the House of Commons in June,” he said in an emailed statement.

The Liberals sought to use their first meeting of the new cabinet Wednesday to send a message about their political priorities _ particularly that promised tax cut, which will shave a full point off the lowest income bracket.

Staffers let TV cameras and photographers into the cabinet room following the meeting to watch him sign a decision note directing Champagne to get to work immediately on the tax cut.

“We’re acting on affordability as we look to build up this economy,” Carney said.

Ken Boessenkool, a policy expert at the consulting firm Meredith, Boessenkool and Phillips, said Ottawa is likely waiting for a “clearer picture” of the economic situation before it sets out its budget, and that picture should emerge by the fall.

That could make the fall statement something like a budget, even though economic statements tend to be shorter.

Boessenkool said U.S. President Donald Trump’s stop-and-go tariffs complicate Ottawa’s ability to forecast.

“If you can get in the president’s brain, you’re smarter than anyone else I know,” he said.

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Carney’s government will still need to pass a ways-and-means motion through the current minority Parliament to bring the tax cut into effect, and will need the backing of other parties to secure its passage.

“We expect other parliamentarians to support, obviously, the government, because this is about Canadians,” Champagne said when asked about the vote. “This is a way for all parliamentarians to show up and say, ‘Yes, we support Canadians at a time where they need a break.”‘

Carney’s government also announced Wednesday several new cabinet committees meant to reflect his government’s focus on shoring up Canada’s sovereignty and improving Canadians’ quality of life.

They include one committee dealing with priorities, planning and strategy, which will be chaired by Carney, and a new “Build Canada” committee focused on strengthening Canada’s economy, according to information published on the prime minister’s website.

Carney also struck a committee on government transformation and efficiency tasked with reducing government spending.

Another committee deals with ensuring a “secure and sovereign Canada,” managing Canada-U.S. relations and advancing “Canada’s interests around the world.”

Wayne Long, a newly appointed junior member of cabinet, told reporters he thinks Carney will run government more like a corporation than his predecessor Justin Trudeau.

“I think we’re going to see our government run like a corporation, which I think is long overdue,” said Long, who was one of several Liberals who drove a caucus revolt against Trudeau last year over his leadership.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser also said the Carney government is showing a “different corporate culture” with its singular focus on the economy.

Many of the ministers attending the first meeting of the new cabinet Wednesday said they are still being briefed on their new files.

Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said he plans to head out to Western Canada soon for stakeholder meetings.

“We look forward to building and I look forward to digging in,” he said.

But as the federal government looks to extend an olive branch to the Prairie provinces and an oil and gas sector long frustrated by the former Trudeau government, one point of internal tension surfaced on Wednesday.

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault, when asked about pipelines, suggested that Trans Mountain is currently using less than half of its capacity.

“Before we start talking about building an entire new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure,” he told reporters.

— With files from David Baxter