Article content continued

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Finance Minister Joe Oliver isn’t too worried about how this year’s budgetary decisions will affect future governments, preferring to leave that to “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s granddaughter” to solve.

The federal budget unveiled Tuesday contained the Conservative government’s long-anticipated increase to how much Canadians can contribute to tax-free savings accounts, going from $5,500 to $10,000. It’s likely to be popular with many voters, but critics say it’s an expensive promise that will cost future governments billions in lost revenue and hamper their ability to invest in other areas.

Asked on CBC to respond to this criticism Tuesday, Oliver said any problem that takes decades to fully manifest itself is something best left to future generations.

“I heard that by 2080 we may have a problem,” he said in an interview. “Well, why don’t we leave that to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s granddaughter to solve that problem.”

Does Oliver expect a future Harper to follow in the family footsteps and become prime minister? It’s unclear what exactly he meant, and CBC correspondent Amanda Lang didn’t press the issue.

For what it’s worth, Prime Minister Harper is not currently a grandfather.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Problem with the budget? Finance Minister Joe Oliver says Stephen Harper's granddaughter will fix it Back to video