Conservatives' $60B health care promise amounts to just $3.6B increase in first five years: PBO
Doubling Canada Workers Benefit would cost $24 billion in total over next five years
The Conservatives have released a costing breakdown of their platform commitments that says a government headed by Erin O'Toole would deliver $52.5billion in new spending over the next five years,with no plan toreturn to budgetary balance before then.
The costing, carried out by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, projects how muchConservative platformpromiseswouldcost overthe next five years.
The platformcalls for $52.5billion in new spending over five years, with $29.6 billion planned for2021-22. The costing predicts a deficit of $168 billion in 2021-22 that would declinegraduallyto $24.7 billion in 2025-26.
The Conservatives say they would meet their campaigncommitments by redirecting$35.8 billion inspending planned bytheLiberalsover the next five years.
The Conservatives intend to cancelthe Liberals' child care plan, which would free up $26.7 billion. Some of that money wouldgo towardO'Toole'spromisedchild care tax credit, which the PBO said would cost $2.6 billion over the next five years.
One of the biggest financial commitments the Conservatives have made during the election campaignis toincrease the annual rise in health transfers to the provinces from a minimum of three per cent now to a minimum of six per cent.
WATCH | ConservativeParty releasescost of itselection platform:
The Conservatives say that adjustment to the Canada Health Transfer wouldinject $60 billion into health care over the next 10 years.
The PBO's costing, however, says that boost in the health transfer wouldamount onlyto $3.6 billion in new spendingbetween now and 2025-26.
According to the PBO,2021-22would see no health care funding increase under the Conservatives' plan,but the extra funding in 2022-23 would amount to $304 million before rising to $329 million the following year, $901 million in 2024-25 and $2 billion in 2025-26.
Unlike the Liberals, whoare promising toallocatefunds specifically for mental health under a proposed new Mental Health Transfer, the Conservatives say they would encourage the provinces to fund improved mental health services using the extra money in the Canada Health Transfer.
$1.8 billion GST holiday
A Conservative official speaking on background said that because of the pandemic,health transfers are already scheduled to be high in the short term and the full effect of the promised boost to transferswould not be felt until the back half of the decade.
The Conservatives' promise to doublethe Canada Workers Benefit,up to a maximum of $2,800 for individuals or $5,000 for families, is expectedto cost $24 billion over the next five years $1.3 billion this year, rising to $5.7 billion in 2025-26.
The Conservatives are promising aCanada Seniors Care Benefit, which would give$200 per month per household to any Canadian living with and taking care of a parent over the age of 70. According to the PBO, that commitmentwould cost about a $500 million a year, totalling $2.49billion over five years.
The Canada Investment Accelerator which the Conservatives saywould provide a 5 per centtax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023, with the first $25,000refundable for small businesses would cost $13.8 billion over fiveyears, says the PBO.
The one-month GST holiday the Conservatives have promised to provide in the fall would come at a cost of $1.8 billion.
Another significant item in the Conservatives' plan is $9.7 billion in funding forfiscal stabilization, all of which would come in 2021-22.
A Conservative official speaking on background said about half of that money would be used to make retroactive payments to provinces hit hard by the collapse in the price ofoil: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Over the next five years, the Conservatives carbon capture plan would cost $2.5 billion while its "Natural Climate Solutions" plan would cost $1.5 billion.
Leaders prepare for debate
Like the other four federal leaders set to square off in a televised French-language debate in Gatineau, Que., at 8 p.m. ET tonight, O'Toolehas beenbehind closed doors much of the day,preparing.
The move to release the platformcostingcomes afterLiberal Leader Justin Trudeau spent days attacking the lack of specifics inO'Toole's plan.On Tuesday, Trudeausaid he would not refer to O'Toole's electoral program as aplatform because of the lack of detail.
"There are no tables at the end of it, like there are in the Liberal platform, to show what the expenses are over the coming years, how much every promise will costand what the fiscal trajectory is," Trudeau told reporters in Montreal.
WATCH|Trudeau challenges O'Toole's budgeting, position on firearms:
In a potential preview of an attack line voters could still hear on the debate stage, Trudeau accused O'Toole of "not doing his homework" and claiming he can "magically" balance the budget within 10 years.
Conservatives said platform was 'costed internally'
Trudeau unveiled his party's platform at an event in Toronto last week, a document outlining $78 billion in new spending over five years but no path back to balanced budgets. While most of the costing relies on Liberal projections, the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has examined 11 of the party's platform promises.
The Conservative plan released in August included a statement that the platform had been "costed internally" and was being reviewed by the PBO. The party promised to include the watchdog's costing in "subsequent editions."
Pressed on the issue in Ottawa Tuesday, O'Toole said the party expected an update from the PBO "shortly" and blamed the delay on Trudeau's decision tocalla snap election.
"That was a process that Mr. Trudeau set up. We could not access the PBO until the campaign began," he said. "We will update Canada's Recovery Plan as soon as we get that confirmation."
A reporter noted that other parties had released costing estimates in past campaigns without the help of the PBO, which was created in 2006.
WATCH|O'Toole says he's waiting for the PBO to put a price tag on his platform:
The PBO began responding to requests from parties to estimate the costs of theircampaign proposals on Aug. 15, the day of the election call.
The PBO tweeted Tuesday that, since the start of the campaign, it has received more than 100 requests to cost electoral proposals and had returned 75 completed estimates to the parties.
"We release these costing estimates on dates selected by the parties that placed the requests," the PBO said in the tweet.
The PBO website has so far posted 13 reports examining campaign promises: 11 for the Liberals and two for the New Democrats. The 2019 election, which was called onthe fixed election date, was the first to see the budget watchdog examine campaign promises by the parties.
Debates set for todayandThursday
The NDP alsohas not released the costing of its platform. An NDP spokesperson told CBC News Tuesday the party will be "releasing our full costing in the coming days."
The Bloc Qubcois and Green Party have released platforms, but neither one has been costed.
The five party leaders participating in Wednesday's eventTrudeau, O'Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Qubcois Leader Yves-Franois Blanchetand Green Party Leader Annamie Paul will also face off Thursday in a high-stakes English-language debate.
Canadians will head to the polls in just 12 days. Advance polling opens on Friday.
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