Is Mark Carney the new Jean Chrétien? Last Wednesday, Carney used the “a word” — austerity — to describe the future of Canada’s finances in the era of Trump’s tariffs. Carney had already ordered a 15 per cent cut to Ottawa’s operational spending in July, implying a downsizing of the civil service and possibly program cuts. Then on Friday, he paused Canada’s costly EV mandate while creating a $5 billion “strategic response fund” to help Canadian businesses find new markets.

Sound familiar? Back in the 1990’s, with Canada drowning in debt and the IMF threatening to impose its own austerity plans, Prime Minister Chrétien seized the gauntlet and slashed spending. He shrunk the federal bureaucracy by 45,000 positions over three years with his 1995 austerity budget, and eliminated the $45 billi

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