Carney expected to balloon the federal budget while Canadians demand cuts
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168.41951
Summary
A record 7.3 million Canadians voted on Election Day, despite ballot shortages at some polling stations. Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to outspend former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by $130 billion, even as most Canadians demand cuts, not more government bloat.
Transcript
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Liberal leader Mark Carney wants to outspend former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by $130 billion,
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even as most Canadians demand cuts, not more government bloat.
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A record 7.3 million Canadians headed to advance voting,
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despite Easter weekend commitments and ballot shortages at some polling stations.
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CBC's Rosemary Barton falsely claimed remains of Indigenous children were found at residential schools,
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contradicting her own network's correction that no remains had been confirmed.
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Hello Canada, it's Thursday, April 24th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
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We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
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Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
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Liberal leader Mark Carney's costed platform includes $130 billion in new spending,
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marking a tone-deaf response to the majority of Canadians who want to see a reduction in both government spending and bureaucracy.
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Carney is looking to outspend the Trudeau government,
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which already infamously saw the highest spending years in Canadian history,
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A recent Leger poll found that 43% of Canadians want to see a reduction in government spending
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compared to the 20% who agree with the potential increase.
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Another cohort of 16% said they want to see spending maintained,
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with 58% in disbelief of his timeline compared to the 32% who think it can be achieved.
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Carney has defended the high spending by telling Canadians in Charlotte
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The poll asked Canadians to respond to the 108,000 bureaucrats who were hired since 2016,
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When asked what should be done about the size and cost of federal bureaucracy,
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53% said it's time for a reduction compared to only 4% who would support an increase.
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Conservative leader Pierre Pelleufre accused Carney of attempting to bury his spending plan
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in the news by revealing it over Easter long weekend when he, quote,
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So, Jeff, what are some of the main criticisms Carney's budget has faced since the Liberals released it?
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Yeah, Isaac, since the Liberals released Mark Carney's costed platform on April 19th,
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it's been hit with a wave of criticism that highlights its disconnect from the Canadian priorities.
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One of the sharpest critiques, echoed by Conservative leader Pierre Pelleufre in a National Post article on April 21st,
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is the sheer scale of the $130 billion in new spending,
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which Pelleufre called far more costly than Justin Trudeau.
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He argued that the plan would add nearly a quarter trillion dollars to the federal debt,
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labeling it inflationary, and warning it would drive up the cost of food, housing, and everyday goods.
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This resonates with the Leger poll's finding that 43% of Canadians want reduced government spending,
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not an increase, making Carney's approach seem tone-deaf.
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Another major criticism focuses on the lack of fiscal restraint.
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The Fraser Institute, in a piece published on April 22,
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pointed out that Carney's platform offers no timeline to balance the overall budget,
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only promising to balance the operating budget in three years,
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a promise 58% of Canadians doubt, per the Leger poll.
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Critics argue this mirrors the Trudeau government's habit of borrowing heavily,
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with debt interest costs already projected at $54.1 billion this year,
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation also chimed in on April 20th,
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slamming the piece before ignoring the 53% of Canadians who want a smaller bureaucracy.
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They highlighted that Carney's spending doesn't address the 73% cost increase
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instead adding new programs that could bloat the government further.
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Finally, Polyev's accusation that Carney released the platform over Easter weekend to bury it
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a sentiment shared by 65% of Canadians in the Leger poll
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who doubt Carney's ability to manage finances responsibly.
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The platform's been widely panned as reckless, inflationary,
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Yeah, Jeff, something I just wanted to add quick,
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because I spent many hours looking at both budgets and comparing Polyev's to Carney's.
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So basically, both budgets used the baseline PBO's projections for deficit,
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and that deficit would have been $141.7 billion between 2025 and 2028.
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So Polyev's plan would see the deficit fall to $100.6 billion,
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whereas Carney's plan would see it rise to $224.8 billion in new debt.
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Canadians decided to beat the Election Day lines and turned out in record numbers
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to advance polling stations over the Easter long weekend.
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Elections Canada estimates that nearly 7.3 million Canadians turned out to vote
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over the four-day period between April 18th and April 21st, a new record.
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This marks a more than 20% increase in turnout at advance polls,
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compared to the 2021 election, where 5.8 million voters cast their ballot at advance polling stations,
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On the first day of advance polling, the Nonpartisan Elections Agency said that more than 2 million people
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voted on April 18th, a single-day record at advance polls.
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Some Canadians complained that advance voting would be happening over Easter weekend,
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an important holiday for Christians across Canada who would be attending church services and family gatherings.
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Nonetheless, polling stations across the country were packed,
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with reports of voters waiting in lines for over an hour just to cast their ballot.
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On the last day of advance polling, one polling station in Crossfield, Alberta,
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saw voters unable to vote for an extended period of time as the polling station ran out of plain ballots.
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The Crossfield and District Community Centre's polling station posted a sign on the office's front door
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telling voters about the shortage of plain ballots, telling them to return to the polling station at a later time.
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Crossfield, a small rural community with a population of 4,045 people,
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is part of the larger riding of Yellowhead, which was easily won by the Conservative Party in 2021,
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In a comment to True North, a spokesperson for Elections Canada said they were notified of the ballot shortage
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earlier in the day and then replenished the stock of plain ballots within an hour.
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At one poll at the Crossfield and District Community Centre,
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high turnout resulted in a temporary shortage of ballots,
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resulting in a 45-minute wait as supplies were replenished.
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The additional ballots were requested earlier in the day
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and were already en route when the first batch ran out.
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So Isaac, were there any other rural or remote findings that faced issues with advanced voting?
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showing that over 2 million people voted on both Friday and Monday,
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with closer to 1.5 million voting on each of the weekend days.
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They also highlighted the number of people that voted in every single province and territory across the country.
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The provinces with the most turnout were, unsurprisingly,
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Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, followed closely by Alberta.
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over 16% of Alberta's population have already cast their ballots.
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I saw some people online suggesting that this could be because Albertans are eager for a change.
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Although I've begrudgingly watched past elections be called almost without fail
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I did see online that many advanced polling stations allegedly had lines hours long.
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Luckily for me, when I went to my station in Edmonton over the weekend,
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there was no line and it was a seamless process.
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Speaking of volunteers, Elections Canada messaged me today,
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informing me that many Albertan ridings are still short volunteers.
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For example, Peace River Westlock is still missing about 150 vacant positions,
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so we'll have to wait and see if these vacant positions remain
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and if they cause any issues on April 28th, Election Day.
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I did see that two villages in northwestern Alberta
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voiced concerns that there were no longer polling stations in either community
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and that they'd have to travel a long distance to cast their ballots.
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Canadians have also revealed that to avoid long lines at their local polling stations,
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they were able to go instead to their local returning office to vote,
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which I was told had much more stations, volunteers, and room.
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Others have revealed inefficiencies they've uncovered at polling stations,
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which were possibly the reasons for such long lines.
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I expect that April 28th could be a late night for all of us
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CBC News Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton
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is facing scrutiny after making a false statement
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about the discovery of Indigenous residential school sites' remarks
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that contradicted her own network's corrections.
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During a live panel discussion following the French-language federal leaders' debate
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Yes, there have been remains of Indigenous children found in various places across the country.
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Her comment appeared to be an attempt to discredit Rebel News,
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whose reporter Drea Humphrey had questioned NDP leader Jagmeet Singh
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against anti-Christian hatred as it relates to the residential school soil disturbances discovered in 2022.
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However, CBC issued a clarification the next day,
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Under its Corrections and Clarifications section,
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As CBC News has reported on multiple occasions what several Indigenous communities across Canada
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have discovered on the sites of some former residential schools
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The statement confirmed that no human remains have yet been confirmed.
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So, Jeff, has Barton ever addressed her factually incorrect comments?
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No, Rosemary Barton has not directly addressed her factually incorrect comments
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about the discovery of Indigenous remains at residential school sites,
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during the live panel discussion where she claimed,
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Yes, there have been remains of Indigenous children found in various places across the country,
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neither Barton nor her team issued a personal response or apology.
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A search of her public statements in social media, including her ex-account,
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shows no acknowledgement of the error as of April 23rd.
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issuing a clarification the next day under its Corrections and Clarifications section,
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stating that only potential burial sites or unmarked graves have been discovered,
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The correction came after significant pushback,
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including from Rebel News, which Barton appeared to be targeting with her remark.
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as noted in the Western Standard article from April 21st,
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leaving the network's statement as the only official response.
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Her lack of direct engagement has only fueled the scrutiny she's facing.
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