Chrystia Freeland

Stephen Maher: The Liberals may be in control, but if O’Toole keeps pitching himself as a policy nerd with a detailed plan, swing voters might buy what he is selling

In the Liberals’ optimistic budget, recovery is coming. It will take extensions of key pandemic programs, plus childcare, job training, student grants and business supports.

Childcare for an average of $10 a day within five years? The budget’s big offering is ambitious and essential, say experts. It will also be an enormous job to pull off.

Paul Wells: The budget focuses on the sort of things a government like Canada’s should be working on right now. But the big bet is on childcare—and the devil is in the details.

Paul Wells: The former central banker may have what it takes to survive partisan politics. But the big challenge would be cracking the current Liberal leadership’s hold on the party.

Marie-Danielle Smith: There were no handshakes to parse or walks down the hall, just the familiar hiccups of a video chat—and a few reminders of a return to friendlier times

Paul Wells: Earlier this year, Justin Trudeau gave his finance minister a mandate to avoid any new recurring spending. Here is a brief history of that doomed campaign.

Shannon Proudfoot: Enormous quantities of money will be spilled to try and get Canada through the coming months and, maybe, into a shiny spring

The Liberal update is rife with uncertainty and debt, while the ’fiscal anchor’ has been replaced by ’guardrails’. Fingers are crossed for happier times.

Paul Wells: When will the spending stop? What is ’building back better’? How will the gender impact of the crisis be fixed? The answers will come later.