By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected suggestions that the country is an economic laggard, and vowed to inject optimism among Canadian youth before the next election.
Trudeau, whose Liberal Party is trailing the Conservatives by a wide margin in public-opinion polls, reiterated that he intended to run again in the next election, which must be held no later than October, 2025.
"I am running again, and I am going to continue to fight for a Canada that believes in a real and fair chance for everyone to succeed," he told a podcast produced by The Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based newspaper. The Globe said the podcast was recorded earlier in May.
The podcast focused entirely on economic issues, such as housing, immigration and productivity. On the latter, Canada's productivity has declined for three straight years -- down 1.8% in 2023, according to Statistics Canada -- and the country's gross domestic product per capita has dropped for six straight quarters and is sitting at 2017 levels.
Trudeau said lackluster productivity "has been a challenge in Canada for a whole bunch of years, and for a whole bunch of different generations of governments." He added the GDP per-capita gauge can be "a little bit misleading." Some economists say as an economic gauge, per-capita GDP doesn't necessarily account for new immigrants that may take years to integrate, and who initially send a good chunk of their earnings back home to family members.
"Let's not fall into the fact, as some people will suggest, that Canada is somehow some laggard economically," Trudeau said, noting that as a share of GDP, Canada's deficit and debt are the lowest among Group of Seven countries. He added Canada is among the world leaders in attracting foreign investment.
He said his task before the next election is to persuade voters, especially younger Canadians, to "feel optimistic about the fact that their hard work will give them a better life, and will give them an opportunity to succeed in this country. That's something that is starting to slip away or feels like it's starting to slip away." Part of this is due to strains on housing affordability and elevated house prices, and a sharp rise in interest rates to wrestle down historically high inflation.
The Canadian economy grew 1.1% last year, a sharp slowdown from a strong post-pandemic recovery, although growth is on track to exceed central-bank expectations for the first quarter.
Trudeau said his government is spending to accelerate housing construction, and address affordability issues, and is financing such initiatives by targeting wealthier Canadians, through an increase in capital-gains taxes. Legislation to implement the tax change is likely weeks away, officials said.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-23-24 1111ET
