Carney calls himself a 'great economist' while sparring with Poilievre on the economy

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre offered Prime Minister Mark Carney a backhanded compliment while grilling him on the size of the deficit in the upcoming budget — which led to Carney boasting about his economic expertise.

The federal government has confirmed the budget will be tabled on Nov. 4 — after it spent weeks saying that would be tabled in October. There has been a whirlwind of speculation about the size of the deficit which could be approaching $100 billion according to reports.

During question period on Wednesday, Poilievre repeatedly asked Carney “how big” the deficit would be in the upcoming budget but never got a clear answer.

The prime minister simply said it would “contain the biggest investment in this country’s future in a generation” for housing, energy corridors and infrastructure among other things.

“He says he’s a great fiscal expert. So, does he know the size of his deficit? Yes or no?” asked Poilievre again, in French, using flattery in an attempt to get a clearer answer.

Carney thanked him for the “compliment” before adding, with a grin, in French: “Yes, I am a great fiscal (and) budgetary expert. Yes, I am a great economist. Thank you, sir.”

Laughter and applause erupted among the Liberal benches after Carney’s response.

“Surely, if he was such an expert, he would know the size of his own deficit,” shot back Poilievre. “It’s now halfway through the fiscal year. Six months have gone by, and he has announced $40 billion of additional spending.”

“Deficits drive up inflation, grocery prices, housing costs and interest rates. They drive out investment from our country and uncertainty that destabilizes our economy,” he continued. “We’re six months in. Does he even know the size of his own deficit?”

This time, Carney struggled to keep a straight face. “I know many things,” he said before adding with a chuckle. “I know many things… One thing I know is that Canadian interest rates are much lower than American interest rates.”

“They’re lower because this country’s fiscal situation is strong, because this government has a plan to grow this economy, and we will keep doing it.”

Poilievre replied: “The collapsing economy is bringing down interest rates, but the financial expert doesn’t even know what his own deficit is.”

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner wrote on X shortly after the exchange in question period that Poilievre “really exposed an arrogant flavour” in the prime minister and noted that it was on the economy, a “terrain that Carney should be comfortable with.”

Later, Poilievre brought up the government’s appointment of the interim Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Jason Jacques, for a six-month term. He replaced former PBO Yves Giroux, who served in the role for seven years and did not see his term extended.

Jacques made a number of comments at a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, including that that his office has “a considerable degree of concern” over the lack of clarity on fiscal anchors and that his office has forecasted that the deficit will be higher than anticipated.

The PBO is expected to release its latest five-year forecast of the country’s finances next week. “I won’t get into the precise numbers, but in comparison to our last medium-term forecast, the deficit will absolutely be higher,” said Jacques.

Carney said the government does indeed have fiscal anchors that are guiding the budgeting process.

“We are going to spend less so the country can invest more. We are going to balance the operational budget in three years. We’re going to have a declining level of debt,” he said.

Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the Liberal government set fiscal anchors — capping the annual deficit at one per cent of GDP and maintaining a declining debt-to-GDP ratio — to indicate Ottawa was responsibly managing public debt.

Jacques also revealed that Carney’s office called him over the Labour Day weekend to ask him if he was willing to serve a seven-year term as PBO, to which he replied that that decision was not up to the prime minister or his office — but up to parliamentarians

“It is ludicrous that you have somebody foisted on you who is selected by the head of the executive branch, and it could have been anybody,” Jacques told MPs, suggesting that they look into this “big legislative gap” to ensure that this situation never happen again.

Poilievre accused Carney of having made Jacques’s appointment as PBO “temporary so that he could hold a sword over his head and threaten him if he speaks the truth about the financial mess the prime minister has made.”

Carney said he was looking forward to consulting with the leaders of all parties in Parliament before appointing a PBO for a full seven-year term.

— With files from the Canadian Press.

National Post calevesque@postmedia.com

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