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By James Peters / The Canadian Press

Federal Budget

Kamloops MP Arnold slams Carney budget as ‘reckless’

Nov 5, 2025 | 1:40 PM

KAMLOOPS — One of the two MPs for Kamloops is criticizing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget as reckless and untrustworthy.

The Liberal government’s budget, introduced in the House of Commons Tuesday (Nov. 4), includes billions of dollars in new spending but promises to cut the federal bureaucracy. It projects a $78-billion deficit next fiscal year, the highest deficit during non-pandemic times.

In a statement, Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies MP Mel Arnold says he fears the budget will add to the inflationary pressures his constituents already face.

“The $78-billion deficit announced in [Tuesday’s] budget is a reckless continuation of the Liberal approach of living beyond our means and [Tuesday’s] budget will predictably devalue the dollars Canadians work to earn and inflate prices Canadians are forced to pay,” said Arnold.

“Although [the] budget presentation included aspirational goals,” he continued, “it is hard to trust the government’s word on how another major deficit will be effectively spent after a decade of similar budget presentations and deficits that have left Canadians struggling with increasing costs of living.”

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Speaking Wednesday, Carney said now is not the time to be cautious because fortune favours the bold and instead, it’s time to get big things done for Canadians.

He claims measures in the budget would help the country meet a lofty goal of attracting $1 trillion in total investment over the next five years — more than offsetting the disruption from U-S tariffs.

-with files from The Canadian Press