Surplus and deficit dominated the recent federal party leaders’ economic debate: a surplus of fiscal bluster and a deficit of economic vision.
The spectacle might have cheered those who value political promises, but there was little new in it for voters hungry for insights into how the next government plans to address the serious marketplace challenges facing Canada.
That bodes ill for the electorate – and the economy.
Both need more details, for example, on how government commitments will fare in an export-driven country that invests too little in research and development faced with a long-term downturn in the price of oil, which last year accounted for close to 25% of its exports.
Economic expectations for 2016 continue to be downgraded, and doubts persist over the world economy’s ability to maintain the 3.4% growth of the past three years.
Debt and demographics are also major challenges the campaign trail has detoured around thus far.
But attention needs to be focused not just on federal government debt, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates has cost Canadian taxpayers $1 trillion in interest payments since 1990. Canadian household debt and increased consumer spending based in large part on the availability of cheap money and a housing market that many predict is headed for a painful fall should likewise be cause for concern. Last year, B.C.’s $58,621 per capita consumer debt remained the country’s highest, according to the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, while growth in household credit continues to accelerate.
None of the three major parties’ campaigns has adequately addressed the realities of what could be a debilitating combination of personal debt accumulation and a rapidly aging population that’s eroding Canada’s ability to support social safety nets and higher government spending.
Voters need less political spin doctoring from the trio vying to lead the country through difficult economic times and more evidence that their game plans have substance beyond promising what we don’t have and what Canada’s economy can’t reasonably deliver.
