Liberals promise $10-a-day child care with a federal budget that looks beyond the pandemic
OTTAWA—It’s a budget that is champing at the bit.
Although the federal Liberals say the first race is to defeat the coronavirus and beat back the pandemic, the federal budget unveiled Monday makes clear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, have their eyes on a longer track and would be happy to face the electorate with their plan in hand.
Budget 2021, titled “A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth and Resilience,” is a monster of a document at 739 pages and all but dares the Liberals’ political opponents to bet Canadians won’t support it.
It proposes $101 billion in new spending — on top of more than $350 billion borrowed and spent to face the COVID-19 emergency — across a broad swath of initiatives to help Canadian families and workers, and to “stimulate” an economic recovery that many economists believe may not be needed.