The Carney government tried to inoculate itself against charges of austerity on Wednesday as François-Philippe Champagne promised “sustained funding” for gender equality programs.

But what the finance minister’s right hand giveth, his left hand is set to taketh away in next week’s budget.

As the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives identified in a new research paper , the “sacrifices” Carney referred in his recent speech at the University of Ottawa will likely be made by stealth. Rather than announcing major cuts, the left-wing think tank warned that 32 of 84 departments could meet their government-ordered 15 per cent budget cuts by simply not renewing programs that are due to “sunset.” Another 20 departments could reduce their spending by five per cent by sunsetting.

If those pro

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