Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to frame his October budget without inducing panic.

In a rare slip earlier this month, he said that it would be “an austerity and investment” budget.

As pollster David Coletto at Abacus Data suggested in a subsequent poll , the “austerity” has negative connotations for nearly twice as many people in Quebec as positive impressions. (Across Canada, the response was less stark: 23 per cent positive; 57 per cent neutral/mixed; 20 per cent negative.)

It is a communications challenge. You want to alert people that this is not going to be a family-friendly, giveaway budget, perhaps even startle them a little. But the shock should be more the mild horror of Gremlins than the heart-attack inducing terror of The Exorcist.

On Sunday, Carney tempered

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