OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to table a 2025 budget.

“Failing to even present a budget is a huge crack in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s credibility,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “You can’t be credible with the finances if you can’t even bother to put together a budget.”

The Canadian Press reported that the federal government “will not table a budget when Parliament returns in the coming weeks but will instead put forward a fall economic statement.”

Carney plans to add an extra $225 billion to the debt over the next four years, according to his election platform. For comparison, the Trudeau government planned on increasing the debt by $131 billion over those years, according to the most recent Fall Economic Statement.

Interest charges on the debt will cost taxpayers $54 billion this year. That’s about the same amount of money as the federal government sends to the provinces through the Canada Health Transfer.

“Canadians have real concerns about the state of our national finances and the Carney government is answering with a shrug,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers deserve to know the state of government finances and scrutinize government spending, so Carney owes Canadians a budget.”