What PM Carney is saying about affordability the day before the spring economic update

CTV News’ Graham Richardson asks PM Mark Carney how the sovereign wealth funds helps Canadians during an affordability crisis.

On the eve of his first spring economic update, Prime Minister Mark Carney insists his government is focused on “doing more than one thing at one time” to increase affordability for Canadians.

Carney made the comments in Ottawa Monday, speaking to reporters following his announcement that his government is creating Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund.

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that uses government surplus reserves to invest in financial assets like stocks and bonds but is independently managed.

Meanwhile, despite the inflation rate hovering around the Bank of Canada’s target two per cent figure for nearly two years, two key areas on the affordability front — fuel and groceries — are seeing major spikes.

Driven largely by the ongoing war in the Middle East, fuel prices have surged, with consumers paying 21.2 per cent more in March compared to February, the largest increase for gasoline on record, according to Statistics Canada.

And, prices for food purchased from stores rose 4.4 per cent on a yearly basis in March, while prices for fresh vegetables increased 7.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis last month, Statistics Canada reported.

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Asked by CTV News Ottawa bureau chief Graham Richardson whether he can square the big-picture impact of the national sovereign wealth fund with the affordability concerns of everyday Canadians, Carney said: “I think so.”

“The day to day is hard,” Carney said. “And this government is doing more than one thing at one time, getting up in the morning, thinking about affordability.”

He also said that “government has good to do,” and pointed to the Liberals’ efforts on crime legislation, defence spending, and border security, adding it’s also important to “build for the future.”

He then cited measures such as the removal of the GST and HST on new home purchases in Ontario, reducing development charges, the middle-class tax cut, and pausing the fuel excise tax, and the groceries benefit, as ways the Liberals are increasing “real affordability.”

“All of these things, and they may not notice or associate with them, but they certainly would notice if they benefit from child care, the Canada Child Benefit, the dental care program, pharmacare, all of these programs that this government is absolutely dedicated to,” Carney said. “All of these programs that we put in place were reinforced.”

Two senior government sources tell CTV News that the deficit in Tuesday’s spring economic statement will be smaller than what was projected in the federal budget in November, in part due to increased revenue from inflation and the price of oil.

Also ahead of the spring economic update, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is “laying out the Conservative demands,” with a focus on affordability.

He’s calling on the Liberals — among other commitments — to cap the deficit at $31 billion, scrap the proposed $90-billion high-speed rail project, abandon the gun buyback program, lower foreign aid spending, cut corporate welfare, and close tax havens.

With files from CTV News’ Ottawa bureau manager Stephanie Ha