Lessons for Erin O’Toole – Canadians care about the deficit, but they care about COVID impact more

Lessons for Erin O’Toole – Canadians care about the deficit, but they care about COVID impact more

By Shachi Kurl, Executive Director

Erin O’Toole says he’ll aim to “erase” Canada’s budget deficit in 10 years.

Does anyone care?

Of course, that’s rather a cheeky question. Indeed, 23 per cent of Canadian adults, in a recent Angus Reid Institute survey, identify government spending and the deficit as top issues facing the country. That represents well more than six million people. So yes, a lot of people care.

But these, as we all know, are such different times. And the politics of deficit reduction, just like everything else, are different too.

Context is a delicious thing. The deficit may be the main preoccupation of millions of Canadians, but the COVID-19 pandemic occupies the frontal lobes of millions more. Further, our concern over deficit spending has ebbed and flowed over the years and finds itself in a most curious place today.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site where it was initially published.

Image credit –  Erin O’Toole/Flickr


Want advance notice for our latest polls? Sign up here!