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No, Canada’s return to economic health will require more than paving crews and the printing press.

Enter the intractable problems: how do we boost Canada’s anemic productivity; how do we open up our coddled industry sectors; how do we get our energy to global markets; how do we improve Indigenous education and get these bright young minds into the labour market; and how do we re-train those in low-employment areas?

The true mark of Trudeau’s ambition will be how many of these questions he seeks to answer. I wish I could say the previous government left a whole bunch of good ideas in the cupboards of Langevin, but they’re emptier than an oil company’s capex account.

That’s not to suggest they’re bare. Important legwork was done on Indigenous education. The previous government bit the bullet and tightened Employment Insurance rules in places like Atlantic Canada. And the immigration system has been radically redesigned to favour the needs of the economy. The Liberals should have the courage to push on with some, or all, of these initiatives.

But more will need to be done.

Part of the answer to our economic ailment is trade. Here, the Liberals remain frustratingly timid on the Trans-Pacific Partnership while opening the door to free trade with China. It’s a bizarre position. I don’t speak Mandarin, but I’m fairly certain “free trade” translates into “we bleed you dry.” Caveat emptor.

Whichever way the Liberals choose to go, the budget will make choices and present an opportunity for the opposition. There is room to criticize but there must also be a place for the opposition to draw up their own economic proposals. What better time than now to show Canadians you got their October 19 telegram?

Pointing and laughing at a struggling government is fine when the country can afford to faff about. The last thing the Opposition should do now is give Trudeau’s Etch A Sketch another slap.

Andrew MacDougall is the Senior Executive Consultant at MSLGROUP London and is a former director of communications to Stephen Harper.