Poilievre pitches a 'pay-as-you-go' law to rein in federal spending - 2022-06-22
Poilievre pitches a 'pay-as-you-go' law to rein in federal spending June 22, 2022,
Conservative leadership contender Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday, if elected, he'd introduce new legislation that would force the federal government to offset every dollar of new spending with a cut to something else — a program he's calling a "pay-as-you-go" approach to budgeting.
Poilievre's plan is to essentially cap federal spending so it doesn't go much higher than it is now. The legislation, if passed, would require the government to find money for new measures within existing budgets, rather than increasing the debt and taxes to cover new costs.
The Conservative MP's campaign said there would be exemptions for spending related to "national emergencies like wars, pandemics and natural disasters." It also said "spending increases that were previously budgeted" like the annual increase to the Canada Health Transfer and increases to military spending would be exempt.
