The Conservatives' death bed conversion to balanced budgets‎ rings hollow

The past has a tendency to repeat itself and the NDP is highly suspicious of the motives behind Joe Oliver’s plans to table a balanced budget law.

The Harper conservatives have broken records in terms of bad fiscal management. Under Stephen Harper’s watch, the Conservatives have tabled 7 deficits in a row. The Conservatives even registered the highest deficit in Canada’s history, putting the books at 56 billion in the red in 2006.

“Since the Conservatives took office, Canada’s national debt has grown by more than $ 142 billion. So we are highly skeptical about their newfound concern,” said NDP deputy Finance Critic, Guy Caron.

New Democrats have had a long standing commitment to balanced budgets. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, when you compare all budgets at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, it is the NDP who has the best record of managing Canadian taxpayers’ money, balancing budgets more often than any other party.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has also raised a number of serious concerns surrounding balanced budget legislation that parliamentarians should consider seriously.

“When you need a law to balance your books, you are admitting that you have been careless and incompetent. Is this another Conservative stunt? And is this government even aware that this legislation can have a drastic impact on the fiscal obligations of the provinces?,” added Guy Caron.