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Little of what is driving growth has anything to do with government policy

And while Morneau says his government’s Canada Child Benefit helped stoke consumer spending, the Bank of Canada recently noted that this government transfer amounted to a one-time boost rather than a long-term driver of economic growth.

And that’s the problem. Since coming to power, the Trudeau government has done virtually nothing to improve Canada’s prospects for long-term economic growth. In fact, in many ways it has actually damaged the prospects for a sustainably stronger economy.

Beyond 2017, the Bank of Canada expects growth to moderate and drop to 2.0 per cent in 2018 and 1.6 per cent in 2019. Even the Department of Finance expects growth to drop after 2017. The fact that the Bank of Canada, private-sector forecasters and Morneau’s own people all expect growth to slow in coming years to below two per cent reveals a deeper concern regarding the state of Canada’s economy.

Economic storm clouds remain for 2018 and beyond

A critical concern for future growth is our economic fundamentals, and particularly the slowdown in business investment. When businesses invest in the latest technologies and production techniques and expand operations, it spurs economic growth and raises living standards for workers because it makes them more productive, which in turn allows them to command higher incomes.

But as noted in a recent study, business investment in Canada has declined by a staggering 18 per cent (after accounting for inflation) since the end of the third quarter of 2014. By international standards, Canada’s rate of business investment is exceptionally low, ranking second lowest among 17 comparable industrialized countries in annual investment as a percentage of GDP from 2015 to 2017. Looking further back, investment in machinery and equipment — a critical type of investment and driver of rising productivity — has fallen steadily since 1998.