TOO TEMPTING FOR THIS GOV'T TO IGNORE

• It is sometimes difficult for everyday Canadians to grasp the size of the federal deficit— estimated at $26.6 billion for 2019-20—because of its sheer size.
• This bulletin, along with subsequent planned instalments, aims to give Canadians that context by calculating what the federal GST rate would have to be to in order for the federal budget to balance in 2019-20.
• If the federal government decided to raise the revenues it needed to pay for its spending instead of deferring those taxes to the future through deficits (i.e., borrowing), the GST rate (currently 5 percent) would have to rise to 9 percent.