ERIN O’TOOLE -- Justin Trudeau spent recklessly during the good years, and now when we need the fiscal capacity, independent rating agencies are sounding the alarm

Fitch, one of the big 3 global credit rating agencies, downgraded Canada's credit rating Wednesday.

The United States, the European Union, Germany, Australia and many other countries are all facing the same economic and fiscal challenges as Canada, but we were the only country to get a downgrade.

We used to have a AAA rating - a legacy from the (Stephen) Harper government that allowed us to borrow money more cheaply and make decisions knowing global credit markets had confidence that Canada could pay its bills.

Justin Trudeau spent recklessly during the good years, and now when we need the fiscal capacity, independent rating agencies are sounding the alarm.

And they should be - Justin Trudeau and Bill Morneau can't even tell us the size of the deficit.

They won't even give us a fiscal update or a budget to inform Canadians about our fiscal situation.

And they even shut down parliament to avoid having to answer questions about their spending.

This isn't good enough for Canadians.

We're facing a generational challenge. It's a public health crisis and an economic crisis at the same time. 

Canadians deserve to know the state of our finances. Canadians deserve a government with a plan to stabilize the finances, grow the economy again and find a way back to balanced budgets.

Millionaires like Justin Trudeau and Bill Morneau don't care. They'll be fine either way.

But the rest of our country is desperate for change. That's what I'm going to offer them in the next election.

 

Erin O’Toole is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Durham (Ontario) and the Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development.

He was first elected to Parliament in a 2012 by-election and re-elected in the 2015 general election.

He is currently one of four candidates seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.