Atticus F. 🇨🇦 👨‍🦽 🇮🇱

“A government that wants to spend will always find a crisis or a reason to spend beyond its means,” says former parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux. The former federal budget watchdog offered his reflections in the lead-up to Budget 2026, which is widely expected to layer further onto Canada’s ever-growing national debt. In 2025, the public accounts of Canada put the accumulated national debt at more than $1.2 trillion. Since then, the 2026 Spring Economic Update doubled down on plans to add to this debt — forecasting a deficit of $66.9 billion for fiscal year 2025–26, and continued deficits for the foreseeable future. Beyond these annual deficits lies a bigger story: the national debt continues to rise, both in absolute terms and as a share of GDP. The stakes are particularly high for younger generations who will be left holding the bill. It’s a serious issue across many Western democracies that have become addicted to spending beyond their means. To unpack this, Giroux joins Inside Policy Talks. On the podcast, he tells Ian Campbell (@Campbellian_), digital editor at MLI, that one of the key problems is a lack of discipline. “Whenever you stop a program, there are beneficiaries, stakeholders who are upset,” said Giroux, who spent decades in the civil service at Finance Canada, the Privy Council Office, and the Canada Revenue Agency before serving as parliamentary budget officer from 2018–2025. “But sometimes you no longer need to support a certain group or segment of the population,” he said. “They can be self-sustaining.” "So, I think we're due for a strong, very comprehensive program review to look at, ‘Do we need government interventions in all that the government is intervening in.’” Watch the full episode: youtu.be/teG-xWSU6uI