Despite the Trudeau government’s best attempts to showcase its latest budget, the majority of Canadians have an unfavourable view of it and believe the budget doesn’t address their concerns.
According to a recent survey from Nanos, only 19% of Canadians feel that the latest Liberal budget addresses their concerns while nearly 40% say it does a “poor” or “very poor” job of tackling issues Canadians are worried about.
The survey conducted for CTV News found that 20% of the population says the budget is “very poor” at addressing their worries while another 19% feel that it is “poor.” One-third of Canadians said that the budget is “average.”
17% answered that the budget was “good” and only 2% said it was “very good.”
While the country is expected to run a $40.1 billion deficit for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, more than 70% of those surveyed said they were “concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about the country’s finances.
Respondents from the Prairie provinces were more likely to rate the budget poorly (53%) than those in B.C. (44%) and Ontario (42%).
Last month’s announcement of Budget 2023 showed the Trudeau government pushing back plans to balance the budget until at least 2028.
The budget shows the government planning to increase spending on dental care, grocery rebates, and protecting Canadians against predatory spending. The government also plans to spend $21 billion on tax credits to incentivize green energy programs.
The government has pledged to spend $497 billion which Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has called a “fiscally responsible” move.