The cost to run the federal government is up $151B a year on Trudeau's watch

 

The federal Liberal government tabled a budget Tuesday that calls for billions of dollars in new spending — something they've done in every other fiscal document for the last seven years.

A review of federal finances shows just how big the government has become in recent years as a result. Ottawa is projected to spend about $151 billion more next year than it did in 2014-15, the year before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his party won government in November.

It's not just expenses — federal public service employment has increased by 31 per cent in seven years. The government has added nearly 80,000 employees to the roster during its tenure.

Total expenses for the federal government were $280.4 billion in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Adjusted for inflation, that's roughly $345.5 billion in today's dollars.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's budget projects total expenses will be $496.9 billion in 2023-24 — a year when there's no extraordinary pandemic-related spending.

And under Freeland's current plan, the spending will move higher in the years to come. Her budget projects spending will ring in at $555.7 billion in 2027-28.

Total program expenses as a share of the economy — a figure that includes all government spending other than public debt charges — is at its highest point in three decades.

In 2014-15, program spending was 12.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). It's over 16 per cent now.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cost-to-run-federal-government-increase-151b-a-year-1.6797486