Mark Carney mum on carbon-tax advice, future in politics at Liberal retreat

VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.

Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”

The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.

Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.

“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”

Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.

Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.

Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.

B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.

The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.

“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”

Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.

Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.

The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.

Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.

Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.

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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has introduced a bill that would kick-start the province’s offshore wind industry without federal approval.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says amendments within a new omnibus bill introduced today will help ensure Nova Scotia meets its goal of launching a first call for offshore wind bids next year.

The province wants to offer project licences by 2030 to develop a total of five gigawatts of power from offshore wind.

Rushton says normally the province would wait for the federal government to adopt legislation establishing a wind industry off Canada’s East Coast, but that process has been “progressing slowly.”

Federal legislation that would enable the development of offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador has passed through the first and second reading in the Senate, and is currently under consideration in committee.

Rushton says the Nova Scotia bill mirrors the federal legislation and would prevent the province’s offshore wind industry from being held up in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will chair a Liberal task force on economic growth, the party announced Monday as Liberal MPs meet to strategize for the upcoming election year.

Long touted as a possible leadership successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney was already scheduled to address caucus as part of the retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., this week.

The Liberals say he will help shape the party’s policies for the next election, and will report to Trudeau and the Liberal platform committee.

“As chair of the Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth, Mark’s unique ideas and perspectives will play a vital role in shaping the next steps in our plan to continue to grow our economy and strengthen the middle class, and to urgently seize new opportunities for Canadian jobs and prosperity in a fast-changing world,” Trudeau said in a statement Monday.

Trudeau is expected to address Liberal members of Parliament later this week. It will be the first time he faces them as a group since MPs left Ottawa in the spring.

Still stinging from a devastating byelection loss earlier this summer, the caucus is now also reeling from news that its national campaign director has resigned and the party can no longer count on the NDP to stave off an early election.

Last week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ended his agreement with Trudeau to have the New Democrats support the government on key votes in exchange for movement on priorities such as dental care.

All of this comes as the Liberals remain well behind the Conservatives in the polls despite efforts to refocus on issues like housing and affordability.

Some Liberal MPs hope to hear more about how Trudeau plans to win Canadians back when he addresses his team this week.

Carney appears to be part of that plan, attempting to bring some economic heft to a government that has struggled to resonate with voters who are struggling with inflation and soaring housing costs.

Trudeau said several weeks ago that he has long tried to coax Carney to join his government. The economist and former investment banker spent five years as the governor of the Bank of Canada during the last Conservative government before hopping across the pond to head up the Bank of England for seven years.

Carney is just one of a host of names suggested as possible successors to Trudeau, who has insisted he will lead the party into the next election despite simmering calls for him to step aside.

Those calls reached a new intensity earlier this summer when the Conservatives won a longtime Liberal stronghold in a major byelection upset in Toronto—St. Paul’s.

But Trudeau held fast to his decision to stay and rejected calls to convene his entire caucus over the summer to respond to their concerns about their collective prospects.

The prime minister has spoken with Liberal MPs one-on-one over the last few months and attended several regional meetings ahead of the Nanaimo retreat, including Ontario and Quebec, which together account for 70 per cent of the caucus.

While several Liberals who don’t feel comfortable speaking publicly say the meetings were positive, the party leader has mainly held to his message that he is simply focused on “delivering for Canadians.”

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer was in Nanaimo ahead of the meeting to express his scorn for the Liberal strategy session, and for Carney’s involvement.

“It doesn’t matter what happens in this retreat, doesn’t matter what kinds of (communications) exercise they go through, or what kind of speculation they all entertain about who might lead them in the next election,” said Scheer, who called a small press conference on the Nanaimo harbourfront Monday.

“It’s the same failed Liberal policies causing the same hardships for Canadians.”

He said Carney and Trudeau are “basically the same people,” and that Carney has supported Liberal policies, including the carbon tax.

The three-day retreat is expected to include breakout meetings for the Indigenous, rural and women’s caucuses before the full group convenes later this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

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