OTTAWA — The financial returns from Ottawa’s capital spending plans in the upcoming fall budget will help Canada pay down the deficit in later years, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday.

His comments came in an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday before he departed on a trip to meet with European officials and sell them on deepening transatlantic supply chains.

Champagne said borrowing to invest in Canada’s productive capacity is the best path to prosperity and economic resilience in the face of U.S. trade disruption.

Shifting the federal government from a focus on operational spending to capital spending will generate growth and deliver multiplied returns on every dollar invested, Champagne argued.

“That’s the whole point,” he said.

“That’s why we

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