OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is offering to give up time on an opposition day in the House of Commons to allow Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to present the government’s fall fiscal update.
Poilievre says he will give Freeland two hours to present the autumn economic statement on Monday, a day allocated for the Conservatives to present their own motions in Parliament.
The Conservative leader says he will give up that time so the government can tell Canadians whether it kept its promise to limit the federal deficit to $40 billion.
The parliamentary budget official projects that the government will surpass its own fiscal barrier, with a deficit of $46.8 billion in the previous fiscal year.
“Not only will we cooperate to allow you to deliver that autumn update, but we will also give you a Christmas present: we will give you two hours of our Tory opposition motion day on Monday to stand up and say how much you have lost control of the nation’s finances,” Poilievre told reporters Wednesday morning.
So far, it does not appear that the Liberal government plans to accept the offer.
Freeland called the proposal “absolutely absurd” before her appearance before the Senate’s national finance committee.
“This proposal from the Conservatives is like an arsonist starting the fire and saying, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll go with a fire truck for a couple of hours. But tomorrow I’ll be back again with parties,'” Freeland told the media. .
“And as far as the fall economic statement goes, I’ll be submitting it soon and I’m looking forward to it.”
Freeland has not yet announced a date for the fiscal update and told reporters Tuesday that the filibuster in Parliament is hampering the government’s work.
The Liberal government has not said whether it will honor its own commitment on the deficit.
The House of Commons has been deadlocked for weeks as opposition parties demand the government hand over unredacted documents to the RCMP related to improper spending on a green technology fund.
Government House leader Karina Gould reacted to Poilievre’s offer by asking the Conservatives to end the debate.
“We should end the filibuster,” Gould said. “That’s enough, right? There is important work we must do.”
The filibuster will stop Thursday because Speaker Greg Fergus has stepped in to ensure the opposition’s remaining four days go ahead over the next two weeks, with the first allotted to the Conservatives on Thursday and the NDP on Friday.