Morneau thinks feds 'probably' spent too much on COVID aid, 'worried' about 2023 recession
CTV
Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau says he thinks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government he used to be a part of 'probably' spent too much on COVID-19 stimulus. Now, in an exclusive interview with CTV News' Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos he says he is 'worried' about the potential for a recession this year.
Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau says he thinks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government he used to be a part of "probably" spent too much on COVID-19 stimulus. Now, he's "worried" about the potential for a recession this year.
In an exclusive interview with CTV News' Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos airing Sunday on her debut episode of CTV's Question Period at 11 a.m. ET, Morneau said that in hindsight, the amount of economic stimulus and COVID-19 aid the federal government poured into the Canadian economy during the worst of the global pandemic, may have been too much.
Morneau said that when you look around the world, Canada was one of the countries that "did a good job" when it came to supporting its citizens through the tumultuous time, but "was there too much? Probably."
"But getting it exactly right, that's tough. So I think now that we have the benefit of seeing what transpired, I think we need to be very cautious given that we know that the economic environment that we're facing is challenging," Morneau said.
According to a recent Auditor General report calling out eligibility verification shortcomings in the Liberals' rollout of COVID-19 financial programs, the Liberals spent an estimated $211 billion on COVID-19 aid.
The biggest ticket benefit programs were the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), which paid out $100.7 billion to 460,000 businesses seeing 5.3 million employees kept on the payroll, and the Employment Insurance benefit which evolved into the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), and saw $74.8 billion sent to 8.5 million Canadians.
Morneau's comments build on a perspective he expresses in his forthcoming and revealing new book 'Where To from Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity' which delves into both his time in one of the top political positions in the country and what led him to resign in August 2020, as well as his views about the country's future economic potential.
