Published: 16:52, April 20, 2025
Carney pledges tax cuts, defense spending in Canada election platform
By Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party chief Mark Carney speaks at CBC-Radio-Canada during the English Federal Leaders Debate broadcast, in Montreal, Canada, on April 17, 2025. (PHOTO / AFP)

TORONTO - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's campaign platform plans released on Saturday include tax cuts and new spending on infrastructure and defense, as he pledges a new economic order that is less reliant on the United States.

Carney has campaigned on his experience managing crises while running the central bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and that of Britain during Brexit. He often says he is the best person to stand up to US President Donald Trump, who has imposed tariffs on Canada and threatened to annex the country.

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"We're in an enormous crisis, so we have to be able to do two things. One, hold down on that wasteful spending, which we will do, but much more than that, we need to be bold and drive investment in the economy and take the amazing opportunities we have," Carney said at a press conference.

Carney has also aimed to distance himself from predecessor Justin Trudeau by promising a leaner government.

Carney's plan would push the federal government's deficit to 1.96 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the 2025-26 fiscal year, down to 1.83 percent of GDP the following year, and to 1.35 percent by 2028-29, the platform says.

Trudeau's government had last forecast a deficit of 1.6 percent of GDP for the previous fiscal year that ended in March.

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Carney plans to break up spending into operating and capital spending, which would be new in Canada.

Carney told the press conference government spending had been growing by around 9 percent every year and his government would bring that rate of spending growth to around 2 percent without cutting any transfers to provinces, territories or individuals.

He promised to balance the operating budget over the next three years.

"Our plan gets government spending under control because the government has been spending too much and Canada has been investing too little," Carney said.

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Carney plans to increase defense spending to exceed a NATO target of 2 percent of GDP and said Canada would invest in transatlantic security with "like minded" European partners.