Pundits offer mixed reviews on 'ambitious' Conservative platform
OTTAWA — It charts an ambitious course, but do the numbers add up?
Pundits were having their say about the newly released Conservative platform on Tuesday, which held few surprises but spelled out party Leader Pierre Poilievre's answer to the past decade of the Justin Trudeau Liberals.
'It's certainly consistent with their values, there's no dramatic break from what Pierre Poilievre has been saying for much of his political career,' said Akaash Maharaj, a senior fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
'Some of their numbers rely on what I would call very optimistic ideas about growth and stimulus to the economy, but that's often the case for all parties — they tend to be very bullish on how much capital their measures are going to generate, and very modest when they talk about how much their new programs are going to cost.'
EDITORIAL: Mark Carney's fun with deficit numbers
Conservative platform aims to trim deficit by 70%: Poilievre
Tories expected to release platform as federal election campaign nears end
Among the promises within the Tory platform include a 70% deficit cut — a policy Stephen Taylor describes as both ambitious and necessary.
'It's going to take some time to undo the damage the Trudeau government has done to Canada,' said Taylor, a partner at Shift Media.
'So a 70% reduction in the deficit over the next four years is a good target.'
Taylor feels the platform is reflective of how Canadians are feeling and where their anxieties lie.
'The extra spending portions are focused on rebuilding Canada's military and providing incentives for building homes, which I think are key priorities that Canadians have shown everyone running that they're very invested in,' he said.
Maharaj feels the Conservative platform isn't as substantive as the Liberal one, which he said covered a broader range of topics.
'There is certainly an effort in the Conservative platform to be more fiscally responsible — the Liberal and the NDP platforms call for really unprecedented expansions in spending that might be justifiable,' he said.
'One can make a case they are necessary, especially going into a potential trade war with the United States, but there is no overstating how much money those platforms will cost if they proceed.'
Maharaj also questions why the parties waited so long in the campaign to release their platforms with advance polls closing Tuesday at 6 p.m.
'Historically, parties issued their platforms much earlier in the hopes that those platforms would influence voter intentions,' he said.
'It suggests to me that parties think Canadians are being driven not by a careful weighing of policies, but by their emotional response to leaders.
'They are probably right.'
bpassifiume@postmedia.com X: @bryanpassifiume
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