A survey conducted for the Canadian Values Study, a joint project of the National Post, the Dominion Institute and Innovative Research Group, found 53% of Canadians agreed with the statement that Ottawa should "continue to run a balanced budget, even if it means we have to delay spending on key social priorities."
But a significant minority -- 40% -- of Canadians agreed with the opposite statement: that the federal government should "increase spending to address the social deficit, even if it means running a budget deficit."...
While 64% of Canadians agreed with the statement that "Canada's strong fiscal responsibility over the past decade is a key foundation of our recent economic growth," an even higher number (79%) agreed the country has "a pressing social deficit that is measured by problems such as homelessness, waiting lists for health care and lack of access to post-secondary education."
The poll offers another example of how the current political sphere doesn't seem to represent the views of Canadians: while none of the three main federal parties has expressed any interest in deficit spending, 40% of all Canadians are looking for just that even when immediately compared to the budgetary tradeoff. Part of that may relate to the all-too-well-ingrained assumption that deficit spending is natural and necessary on an individual level. However, a more important part seems to be based on the general public's knowledge that the federal government is capable of doing a lot more good than it has done.
While I agree with the conventional wisdom that the budget should be kept balanced, it's clear that when the competing priorities are weighed against each other, Canadians want their federal government to start making up for the cuts of the '90s. It's up to the NDP to make the case that it's on side with 93% of Canadians in wanting both a balanced budget and a balanced society.
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