Canada’s fiscal plan

OTTAWA: Canada’s Liberal government, unveiling its plans at the start of the new Parliament, promised on Friday to pursue a fiscal plan ‘that is responsible, transparent and suited to challenging economic times’. The formal announcement, delivered just hours after fresh data showed the economy was struggling, made no mention of whether the Liberals would stick to their campaign pledge to limit budget deficits to 10 billion Canadian dollars a year. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau won a parliamentary majority in the October 19 election promising to return Canada back into deficit in order to support an economy suffering from low prices for oil and other commodities. After contracting in the first half of the year, the economy grew again in third quarter. But the final quarter of the year has gotten off to a weak start.

Â