OTTAWA—The Liberal government’s chicken-in-every-pot election budget sprinkles billions in new spending to help millennial homebuyers, financial support for seniors, new skills training for working people and dozens of other initiatives as Canadians prepare for the fall vote.Titled “Investing in the Middle Class,” the budget puts a bookend on the Liberals’ four years in power with a dash of new spending and no promise to balance the books in the short term.“What’s clear is that our approach has worked. We’ve put in place investments that allow families to have more money in their pocket, and they’ve put that money back into the economy and our economy has done well,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau told reporters.The budget is filled with an array of measures that target Canadians across demographic lines and geography, giving Liberals plenty of opportunities to reannounce budget measures across the country in the weeks and months ahead.Morneau said Tuesday’s budget builds on the initiatives of the government’s past budgets, notably the income tax cut and the child benefit, two measures that he said have meant an extra $2,000 a year for a family of four and have lifted almost 280,000 children out of poverty.“We know there is more to do. We know that Canadians still feel anxious about their future … that’s the frame for our budget this year,” he said.As he prepared for the election ahead, Morneau was unrepentant about one key broken promise of the last campaign — the Liberal vow to balance the books by 2019.Instead, he cited the deficit — projected to grow to $16.8 billion in the next fiscal year, not including a $3-billion contingency — as a point of contrast between his government and the Conservatives, one that is sure to play out on the election trail.“We’re making investments in Canadians’ future. We’re doing it in a fiscall ...
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