Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland clarified that even though the cabinet promised "$15 billion of savings,” it does not mean a $15 billion cut in federal spending..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Freeland told reporters on Tuesday that when she talked about “savings.” She meant the money would be moved from certain programs to spend on other programs..“The fiscal forecast in the budget that we tabled in the spring includes that $15 billion of savings so we could fund the programs outlined in the budget,” Freeland told reporters. .“It is not new savings.”.“How do you convince Canadians that you are serious about this?” asked a reporter. .“We are Liberals,” replied Freeland..This year’s federal budget totals $497 billion by a department of Finance estimate. Billions in promised “savings” were outlined in the March 28 budget document A Made in Canada Plan..“Budget 2023 proposes to reduce spending on consulting, other professional services and travel by roughly 15% of planned 2023 discretionary spending in these areas,” said the document. .“This will result in savings of $7.1 billion over five years starting in 2023.”.“Budget 2023 proposes to phase in a roughly 3% reduction of eligible spending by departments and agencies by 2026,” the document continued. .“This will reduce government spending by $7 billion over four years starting in 2024.”.On Tuesday, Anita Anand, president of Treasury Board, said that the planned cuts were not meant to reduce the total spending..“We are really refocusing our spending from pandemic-type spending to the broader economic priorities of the country,” said Anand..“I asked all of my ministerial colleagues to ensure they are examining their respective portfolios so we can deliver a budget commitment for $15 billion over five years in refocused spending. That’s how I would like us to understand the request to my colleagues.”.“It is $15 billion over five years and then about $4 billion thereafter,” said Anand. .“The exercise is extremely important. Spending reviews have been part of previous governments, but what we are asking departments across the government to do is to take a look at your expenditures and determine where there is a possibility to refocus that spending.”.Since 2007, the federal government has not been able to balance the budget resulting in the national debt growing to over $1.1 trillion, according to Public Accounts..The cost of interest on debt is expected to go up from $20.4 billion before the pandemic to $43.9 billion this year. That's almost twice as much as what the country spends on national defence. The costs are predicted to go over $50 billion by 2027..“We have looked at the impact of increasing interest rates as well as the increase in the stock of debt, and we estimate that in the next four years, interest payments will probably double,” Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified on Sept. 27 at the Senate Banking committee.
