Deputy PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement during question period, saying, “We will continue to do whatever it takes to support Canadians and Canadian businesses, and we have a plan for jobs, and robust growth.” (CTV News)

Talking point: The last federal budget was presented on March 19, 2019. Budget 2020 was called off due to COVID-19. In lieu of a budget for 2020–21, then-finance minister Bill Morneau delivered a fiscal snapshot last July, saying the country’s economy would have contracted more than 10 per cent last year if not for the government’s emergency spending. The government projected a deficit for 2020–21 at $343.2 billion, up from $34.4 billion from the last fiscal year. As the deficit balloons, the CEOs of some of Canada’s biggest firms want a new branch like the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for Canada. My colleague Murad spoke with the Business Council of Canada’s Robert Asselin about what that might look like.