The Conservative MP for Windsor West hopes the 2026 federal budget does not add “significantly more debt.”
Harb Gill says we are already significantly in debt right now.
The Liberal government is getting ready to table its 2026 budget on Thursday, but Ottawa’s own focus groups suggest Canadians aren’t watching the state of the federal purse too closely.
Finance Canada hired a market research firm to conduct online focus groups with a few dozen Canadians about a week after the government’s last fiscal update in April.
Environics Research found few participants were even aware there had been a fiscal update a week earlier.
Most participants also said they felt little concern over Ottawa’s deepening deficits in the face of U.S. trade disruption and the war in the Middle East.
Canada’s total federal debt stands at $1.3 to $1.4 trillion and is tracking toward an expected net debt level of about $1.399 trillion by April 1, 2027, according to the federal economic and fiscal updates.
Gill says we can’t simply just sign MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding); we need real outcomes.
“Announcements upon announcements. An announcement is not an outcome,” he says. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell this government. The Canadian people understand what we’re talking about. Let’s see what they have in store for us.”
Gill says he does not have a preview of what’s coming.
“Given their past performances, I’m not overly optimistic because all they have given us is significantly more debt,” he says.
Gill says what people are asking for is that the government respect their tax dollars.
“They are the ones sending their hard-earned money, and they want this government, this Liberal government, to show some respect for that money, not just waste it willy-nilly. Sadly, that’s still happening,” he says.
The focus group participants broadly knew that excessive borrowing can harm the economy, but most said the deficit is just a number with little impact on their day-to-day lives.
While Finance Canada commissioned the research to gauge how Canadians feel about the economy, Environics says its focus groups only show a range of public opinions and do not offer a weighted sample.
With files from The Canadian Press