Poilievre asks Ottawa to suspend fuel taxes until Canada Day and cut spending
The Conservative leader wants fuel taxes suspended until July and the government to meet its debt targets before the Nov. 5 budget.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has written to Prime Minister Mark Carney with a list of demands ahead of the federal budget, due to be tabled Nov. 5.
He asks that all federal taxes on diesel be suspended until Canada Day, that the GST on fuel be suspended until summer, and that the fuel standard tax be scrapped permanently. He also wants what he calls wasteful and inflationary spending cut, and the government to keep its promises to reduce the debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios.
In the letter Poilievre writes: "You promised affordability. Yet everything is more expensive since you took office. While you cannot control things outside Canada, your decisions at home have only made things worse."
He said Sunday, at a suburban event, that "When farmers and truckers pay more, the price gets passed on to you."
The Parliamentary Budget Office expects the government to miss its fiscal anchor of a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio. Its forecast puts the 2026-27 deficit at $63.3 billion, down from $71.8 billion in its June outlook, with the annual deficit peaking at $70.2 billion the following year. The PBO expects the deficit-to-GDP ratio to rise again in 2027-28 and 2029-30.
