It’s weird to get the wrong answer on a test when you wrote the question.

But the Trudeau government is consistently pulling off that dubious feat.

“Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has not committed to meeting the $40.1-billion deficit target she set for the government last year, as the Liberal government appears to unshackle itself from constraints on spending ahead of a federal election,” reported the Canadian Press.

Think about the magnitude of this failure. Freeland set the target: The government must keep the deficit under $40.1 billion. It’s a pass-fail question she wrote herself. And she’s already tottering toward the failing side of the equation.

But even if the government is finally able to meet its own budget target, it will still be a failure. And that’s because coming up $40 billion short is an F anywhere outside of Ottawa. 

There is no pandemic. Inflation fattened government coffers for years. The government has continually taken more money from Canadians. And it still can’t get its finances in order. 

Wasting more than $1 billion every week paying interest charges on the debt is a failure. 

In fact, every dollar Canadians pay in federal sales taxes now goes to pay interest on the debt. That’s a failure. 

This year, the federal government is wasting more money on interest charges than it’s sending to the provinces in health transfers. That deserves a failing grade too. 

Not to mention, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially doubled the debt. 

It took nearly two dozen prime ministers and a century-and-a-half to rack up $616 billion in debt, where the total stood before Trudeau took office. Less than a decade later, Trudeau doubled the debt to $1.232 trillion. 

That deserves an F. 

And missing budget targets isn’t an exception for this government, it’s a rule. 

In 2015, Trudeau promised “modest” short-term deficits of less than $10 billion before balancing the budget in 2019. 

Trudeau ran a $18-billion deficit in 2016, a $19-billion deficit in 2017 and a $14-billion deficit in 2018. And instead of balancing the budget in 2019, Trudeau ran a $20-billion deficit.

These days, the only mention of balanced budgets comes from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. 

The PBO estimates the government won’t balance the budget until 2040. But even that balanced budget relies on economic growth every year and no new spending.

Trudeau can’t meet his own self-imposed budget targets because he can’t control his spending. 

Every year, the government says how much it’s going to spend over the next handful of years. And every year, this government blows through that projection. Here’s one example:

The 2019 fall economic statement first projected 2024 spending to be $420.5 billion. The government now plans to spend $534.6 billion this year – a $114-billion increase. 

Last year, the government promised to find “savings of $15.4 billion over the next five years.” 

How is that going? Well, the government increased spending by $24 billion last year and plans to increase spending by another $111 billion over the next five years. 

To add insult to injury: Freeland and Trudeau are rewarding themselves for failure. 

Trudeau appointed Freeland as finance minister in the summer of 2020. Since then, the government tabled four budgets and added about $500 billion to the debt. 

Since then, Freeland’s salary increased by $30,100, to $299,900. Trudeau’s salary increased by $41,000, to $406,200. Those salaries are going in the wrong direction.  

Even if Trudeau and Freeland manage to meet their $40-billion deficit target, it’s still a failure. 

But here’s a bold prediction: They’re going to fail their own test and blow through their own deficit target.

After years of financial mismanagement, passing grades are only for politicians who cut spending and balance the budget. 

This column was originally published in the Western Standard on Dec. 11, 2024.