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The study identified which Canadian prime ministers have increased or decreased spending the most. Liberal PM Louis St. Laurent oversaw the biggest post-war increase (up seven per cent), partly explained by Canada’s participation in the Korean War in the early ’50s. Since then the biggest average decline was under the PCs’ Joe Clark (down five per cent), but he was only prime minister for nine months.

Photo by Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

Mulroney and Chrétien each oversaw a modest decline in per-person spending of 0.3 per cent from the year they entered office to the year of their electoral defeats. Under Martin, from 2004 to 2006, the average annual increase was 2.6 per cent; it was 1.5 per cent under Harper and is 3.1 per cent under Trudeau so far.

The study points out that Trudeau’s tenure “has occurred during a period of stable economic growth (i.e. no war or recession).”

The last few years have not been without uncertainty. At the behest of an unpredictable United States president, the North American Free Trade Agreement was reworked. Pipeline politics have raged on domestically, with Trudeau attempting to walk a fine line between prioritizing resource development and environmental protection. His government nationalized the Trans Mountain pipeline extension project for $4.5 billion last year, what seemed to be a last-ditch option with the project poised to fall apart.

The Liberal government has shrugged off criticism of its budgetary deficits. Trudeau remains in a strong polling position headed into the campaign. His finance minister, Bill Morneau, is unwavering in his insistence that the government’s plan will “keep our economy strong and growing,” as it was put in a Finance Canada statement on Tuesday.

Still, responding to the Fraser Institute’s research, Poilievre argued the fact Trudeau “inherited great fortune” at the start of his tenure gives him no excuse to keep spending levels so high. “A balanced budget, roaring world and U.S. economies, booming housing markets in our biggest cities and record low interest rates all generated windfalls of tens of billions in unexpected government revenues after Trudeau took office,” he said. “He blew every penny.”

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