Prime Minister Mark Carney again said on Thursday that Canadians need to be prepared for “sacrifices” ahead of the federal budget, but isn’t saying yet what those will be.
During a joint press conference with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Thursday, Carney was asked what those sacrifices might be after he had said in a speech Wednesday night that Canadians must be prepared.
“We’ll have a budget and all aspects of the budget will reveal that,” Carney said on Thursday.
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However, Carney reiterated that the federal government would “maintain support to Canadians, particularly those who are most vulnerable.”
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“Whether it’s health transfers to the provinces or child-care support, including working together with the province of Ontario, dental care, national school food program … we’re going to maintain those,” he added.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadians had already made sacrifices in a tough economy.
“Instead of acknowledging all of those sacrifices and promising to reverse them, Mr. Carney doubles down on all the policies that caused them,” Poilievre said, speaking shortly after Carney on Thursday.
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Carney vowed Wednesday to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade while boosting domestic investment and infrastructure in the upcoming budget, telling Canadians “sacrifices” will be needed.
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Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Cameron MacKay said on Thursday that Mexico was a crucial part of Carney’s plan to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade.
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“Mexico is one of those markets abroad where I think there’s real opportunity to grow Canadian trade. It’s relatively barrier free, there’s no duties to export to Mexico, the regulatory environment is stable and welcoming for most Canadian exports,” MacKay said Thursday.
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Speaking in a primetime address to students at the University of Ottawa, Carney had said the expansion of international trade beyond the U.S. will generate $300 billion more in trade, which will bolster the economy in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“The decades-long process of an ever-closer economic relationship with the United States is over,” Carney said. “As a consequence, many of our former strengths as a country … based on close ties to America have become our vulnerabilities.”
— With files from Global’s Sean Boynton
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