Trudeau government raises federal debt to $1.45 TRILLION

The Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday that the federal debt will eclipse $1.45 trillion by the year's end, with projections showing that figure will increase to $1.6 trillion by 2021.

"Should parliamentarians support extending temporary measures or introduce new response measures, program spending could rise significantly above the Budget Office's baseline projection," said an Economic and Fiscal Outlook for September 2020, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

"The Office's outlook does not reflect any of the commitments made in the recent Speech from the Throne."

The debt ceiling will be surpassed by 24 percent this year, with the debt ceiling having been set just three years ago under the Borrowing Authority Act.

"The Budget Office's economic and fiscal outlook is conditional on the future course of the Covid-19 pandemic which itself is inherently uncertain," the report reads.

"Given the recent uptick in new cases both within Canada and globally, it is possible a severe second wave of infections could result in another round of stringent containment measures and lockdowns."

Taxes, however, will not be increased. Despite the widespread effects of the lockdown on Canada's economy, then-Finance Minister Bill Morneau told the House of Commons that there was "no plan to raise taxes" on May 21.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Bob Benzen said that "This Liberal government is spending enormous amounts of money every day and borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars to do it."