On Wednesday March 22nd, Bachelor of Commerce Professor Pierre-Pascal Gendron was interviewed for a 2017 federal budget segment on the French CBC Radio One program “L’heure de pointe” hosted by Line Boily.
In the interview, Pierre-Pascal addressed the following themes: the elimination of certain programs like the transit tax credit; the recycling of past commitments; the large budget deficit; the challenges of long-term infrastructure spending, especially the disbursement of funds on actual projects; and net debt accumulation in the face of expectations of rising interest rates in the future.
Pierre-Pascal concluded the interview by arguing that it is a budget without a plan and that Canadians are asked to trust the Federal government without clear performance benchmarks from year to year. He also expressed concern that there is no clear timetable for a return to budget balance.