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For the fiscal hawks among us, a party winning an election on a promise to run deficits was certainly troubling. But a new poll from Angus Reid suggests that reports of the death of deficits as a political liability may have been greatly exaggerated – and in fact, that a resurrection of sorts is underway when it comes to the public’s concerns about runaway government spending.

While partisans will focus on the horse race numbers, what’s striking is how economic and fiscal matters are top of mind for most Canadians. The economy was listed as the second most important issue for 26 per cent. And at 29 per cent, “the deficit/government spending” is now Canadians’ number one concern, more than double the 12% who said so just two years ago.

As the national debt has risen, concern for the deficit has risen, and Liberal poll numbers have slumped.

Correlation might not mean causation, but this trend should at least be enough to get politicians to sit up and take notice.

These numbers suggest that Canadians aren’t indifferent to deficit spending after all. Maybe, just maybe, voters took the Liberals at their word – just a couple tiny deficits before we’re back in the black – and are none too thrilled about the Liberals’ decision to run much bigger deficits in perpetuity.

Perhaps that tolerance for small, temporary deficits – still more than some of us would like – should not have been taken as a license to throw all fiscal prudence out the window.