Erik Hertzberg and Derek DecloetChrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy prime minister and finance minister, speaks during an interview at Bloomberg's office in New York. --
“It was like pandemic and lockdowns and people dying, and then it was inflation and shortages,” she said. “And now it is interest rates – my credit card bill is too high, my mortgage is too high.” Carney is the chair of Bloomberg Inc. and Brookfield Asset Management, among other business and nonprofit sector roles. He didn’t respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg News.
Voters’ current focus on economic issues doesn’t bode well for Trudeau. A poll by Nanos Research for Bloomberg News found that of the national party leaders, Poilievre holds a strong lead on the question of who is best to support growth – hence the implication that Freeland hasn’t done a good job of communicating the government’s economic message.
She said it’s always “quite a shock” when she points out to foreign audiences how much better Canada’s fiscal position is than other nations. The federal government is expected to run a budget deficit of 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product next year, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. That matches Germany as the lowest among Group of Seven countries, a level far below the U.S., where the deficit is forecast at over six per cent.