Freeland will present the federal budget today after mocking much of it in recent weeks

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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will finally present the federal budget in the House of Commons this afternoon, showing how the government plans to win back the support of disaffected Canadians worried about the cost of living.

The Liberal government has already unveiled major portions of the budget in recent weeks during a campaign tour aimed at drawing attention to its agenda.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that the next spending plan will allocate billions of dollars to build more housing, expand childcare, bolster the military and increase the country’s artificial intelligence capacity.

The government’s new housing measures are outlined in a 28-page document released Friday, which Trudeau called “the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada.”

The prime minister promised to build almost 3.9 million homes by 2031.

Much of the budget is intended to give hope to younger Canadians who have come of age during a tumultuous economic era, Trudeau said Monday, and “now feel that middle-class stability is out of reach.”

However, attention on Tuesday will likely focus on the government’s fiscal outlook and its plan to make up the difference between new spending and a promise to keep the deficit in check.

The Liberals, who have been intensely criticized by fiscal conservatives for their spending record, are under particular pressure to limit spending right now.

With inflation still above the Bank of Canada’s target, deficit spending could keep price growth elevated and delay the central bank’s interest rate cut.

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To alleviate these concerns, Freeland has promised that the federal budget will meet new fiscal barriers introduced in the fall, including that the federal deficit will not increase beyond $40 billion by the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The autumn economic statement also set a target of keeping deficits below one per cent of GDP from 2026-27 and reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2024-25 relative to projection.

The Liberal government will likely benefit from stronger-than-expected economic growth that will give it some additional fiscal room in the federal budget.

New taxes may make up the rest of the difference.

Both the prime minister and the finance minister have ruled out raising taxes on the middle class to pay for new expenses.

But Freeland said nothing about whether corporations or wealthy Canadians might see their taxes rise.

A new public opinion poll by Leger shows two-thirds of Canadians would prefer the government find savings elsewhere to pay for new spending.

Just over a quarter would prefer to have a larger deficit and eight percent would like the government to raise taxes.

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But when respondents were asked about the prospect of raising taxes on wealthy Canadians or corporations, a majority supported such measures.

An overwhelming majority (78 per cent) supported a tax on the wealth of Canadians worth $10 million or more.

The online survey of 1,525 adults conducted between Friday and Sunday cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered statistically balanced samples, but the results were weighted to ensure statistical accuracy.

The federal budget comes at a time when the Liberals desperately need to win back voters on affordability issues after ceding significant ground to the federal Conservatives.

But that will not be an easy task.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has managed to undermine Canadians’ faith in the ruling Liberals with an economic message focused largely on housing and cost of living issues.

“Everything Justin Trudeau has touched in eight years has gotten worse,” he told reporters Tuesday in Parliament ahead of the budget presentation.

Poilievre decried the “record” number of people lining up at food banks and said it was “political theater” for the Liberals to suggest they are targeting tax increases for the wealthiest percentage of Canadians.

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“It’s coming from single mothers, seniors and small business owners,” he said, calling for lower taxes for “a smaller government with bigger citizens.”

The Leger poll suggests there is a disconnect between Canadians’ perception of the federal government’s performance and their support for specific measures proposed by the Liberal government.

Only about a third of respondents agreed that the federal government is pursuing policies that will help the middle class or address housing affordability.

Meanwhile, a majority of respondents supported the Liberal government’s recent budget announcements, including increased spending on housing infrastructure, a national school feeding program and rental construction loans.

– With a file from Dylan Robertson

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