Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the federal economic update on Monday, December 16, the day before the last day of the parliamentary session.
• Also read: The GST holiday and the $250 check from the federal government are electoral gifts, according to a vast majority of Quebecers
• Also read: Unemployment rate rises for first time in more than a year
“I look forward to presenting the next steps in our economic plan to offer everyone a comfortable, middle-class life,” the minister said in a press release.
This document arrives particularly late in a parliamentary session marked by the almost total paralysis of activities in Parliament.
Above all, it comes in a context of extreme uncertainty with the threat of 25% tariffs brandished by President-elect Donald Trump across the border.
Mr. Trump has indicated that he will carry out his threat on his first day in office, January 20, despite numerous red flags regarding the devastating impact it could have on the Canadian economy and part of the American economy.
All experts agree that the application of such high tariffs will plunge Canada into a recession.
Ms. Freeland also has to deal with a rising unemployment rate which reached 6.8% in November, the highest figure since 2017 – excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
The government’s economic statement usually contains a few surprises.
It should also take into account the gifts recently announced by Ms. Freeland and Justin Trudeau, namely the GST holiday on a list of consumer products for two months as well as the $250 check for workers who make less than $150,000 in employment income in 2023.
These two measures will cost public funds an estimated total of $6.3 billion.
The GST holiday has already been adopted in the Commons, but the $250 check is still at the draft stage: the NDP and the Bloc Québécois intend to oppose it if Ottawa does not include other groups, notably seniors without work income.
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