Politics: The national money tree

The national money tree —

deficit and debt could be a stealth issue in federal election

As Canadians are slowly nearing the light at the end of the tunnel that was Covid-19, a new focus for many citizens has arisen: the upcoming fall election and the changes that can come with it.

Canadian society is by no means a static entity, but instead one that has everchanging political values and priorities depending on the current global and national climate. In the same way that Canadians in the 1940s were basing their politics off of World War 2, Canadians have been slowly formulating new political priorities shaped around the current global pandemic.

In a poll carried out by Nanos research (January 2020 to July 2021) that examined which national issues Canadians are most concerned about, some intriguing trends arose.

According to those surveyed, the most prominent concern is the economy and job stability. It is no surprise that apprehension skyrocketed in March of 2020. The jump in data coincided with the borders being closed to nonCanadians for the first time, as well as multiple provinces declaring states of emergency.

The change in March can also be explained by the instability of the job market once the nation shut down. As a student who had recently returned from university, I experienced this firsthand. Non-essential businesses were forced to close their doors, thousands were left unemployed and looking to the government for help. In the coming months many would face economic hardship due to a lack of employment.

With a large amount of the population having experienced the negative side effects of Covid-19 over the last year, it is clear that the economy will be a crucial point of interest for any politician attempting to gain a majority vote.

The environment is the second most important issue for those surveyed. It is less easy to predict why environmental awareness has increased during the pandemic, but one possible hypothesis is that individuals with more free time become more focused on their surroundings. With more people working from home or out of work, it is possible that they are more invested in environmental news and sustainable actions. It is also possible that with this increased amount of time, consumers are able to truly examine what they are purchasing and are able to become more aware of how much waste they may be creating.

The national deficit rounded off the list of the top three national issues for those surveyed. This should not be confused with the national debt, although the two terms go hand in hand. The national deficit is the difference between the federal government’s yearly spending and its revenue. For the last few years, spending has outweighed revenue, leading to a growing national debt. The national debt is the total amount of money that Canada owes, or more simply put, the accumulation of past deficits. Canadian placing a high level of importance on the national deficit can be explained by the drastic fiscal changes that the Canadian government made over the past year. As aforementioned, many were left with fiscal uncertainty because of the pandemic. This led to the government to create the Canada Emergency Response Benefit financial aid program or CERB.

The implementation of the CERB combined with disruptions to trade have significantly increased the national deficit from $21.77 billion in the 2019/2020 fiscal year to a whopping $314 billion in 2020/2021.

Canada’s national deficit has been high for quite a few years, this has been the largest increase since 2012. With the Canadian debt on the rise and Canadians uncertain about their future, it is safe to speculate that politicians will need to lay out clear plans to lower this debt if they wish to be elected.

Other noteworthy issues are the pandemic, which received 10 per cent of the polling opinion, and Indigenous reconciliation, which received 7 per cent. It may come as a surprise to many that the pandemic came fifth overall in the July 2021 poll, but one possible explanation is that the pandemic is much less significant than it was a year ago. Although the pandemic continues to be prevalent in our daily lives, it appears that in the eyes of citizens, it is much less worrisome.

Overall, the Nanos survey demonstrates that voters are more focused on the future of the nation whether it be fixing the economy, or saving the environment, and are more interested in forgetting about the pandemic than using it as a deciding factor for the upcoming election g

The CERB combined with disruptions to trade have significantly increased the national deficit from $21.77 billion in the 2019/2020 fiscal year to a whopping $314 billion in 2020/2021.