To: The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
And: Gord Johns, Member of Parliament for Courtenay–Alberni
From: Albert Ruel, Parksville, British Columbia
Prime Minister Carney and Mr. Johns,
This week Eva Chipiuk asked a question in a post on X that I can’t stop thinking about: why are governments so comfortable telling us how to live when they cannot deliver the basics they are responsible for? I’m writing to tell you that I fully support what she said. Like her, I’m tired of being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it by a federal government that can’t keep its own house in order.
Government exists to serve the public. Its authority has a purpose and legal limits, and our taxes pay for its work. At the very least, we should be able to expect competent administration, responsible spending and respect for our rights. If we aren’t getting those basics, what exactly are we paying for? And why are we asked to applaud announcement after announcement while the services we rely on get worse? Her summary is hard to argue with: “Bigger budgets. Worse services. More excuses.”
That pattern deserves real scrutiny for waste, inefficiency and worse. Canadians are entitled to know where the money is going, who is benefiting, and why failure so rarely costs anyone in charge their job. I’m also tired of hearing that everything is complicated and that officials are doing their best. Of course governing involves hard decisions. That is why we pay people to make them, and complexity is no excuse for poor performance or for avoiding accountability.
Citizens who ask reasonable questions of their own government are not a problem to be managed. No one should have to fight their own institutions for basic information, lawful treatment or competent services they have already paid for. I have spent years advocating for accessibility, and I have seen far too many people forced into exactly that fight. It is our money, and those entrusted with public power answer to us.
Budget 2026 proves the point
The 2026 budget tabled on November 5 is bigger budgets in action. It projects a deficit of $62.3 billion this year. It adds roughly $142 billion in new spending over five years. It still expects to be about $53 billion in the red in 2030–31. Interest on the federal debt is set to climb from about $60 billion this year to $85.5 billion by the end of the decade. That interest buys nothing. It doesn’t build a home, shorten a surgical wait, fix a road or help a single disabled Canadian live more independently. It’s money our children and grandchildren will pay back, with nothing to show for it.
I’ve spent my working life in the non-profit sector. In that world, every dollar has to be accounted for, budgets have to balance and you don’t spend money you don’t have. Families in Parksville live by the same rules at their kitchen tables. It is not too much to ask the Government of Canada to live by them too.
To the Prime Minister
You came to office promising competent, serious economic management. Serious management means doing fewer things and doing them well. Please return to the basics the federal government is actually responsible for and stop reaching further into the daily lives of Canadians. Show us where the money is going and what results it is buying. Set out a clear, believable path to a balanced budget, one the Parliamentary Budget Officer can confirm, and keep to it.
To my MP, Gord Johns
Mr. Johns, you have represented our riding since 2015, and I respect your long service. But last November you abstained on the 2025 budget, and that abstention helped it pass. An Opposition MP’s job is to oppose when the government is wrong, and to hold it to account on behalf of the people who elected him. I’m asking you to vote against Budget 2026 and to say plainly, in the House and here at home, that this level of borrowing is not acceptable.
To all the Opposition parties
It’s time for every Opposition party in Parliament to stand together against the fiscal irresponsibility of this government. Party labels matter far less than the simple fact that the country cannot keep borrowing at this pace. Canadians are counting on you to be a real check on government, not a rubber stamp for it.
Eva Chipiuk ended her post by asking whether we are being governed competently, or constantly being asked to lower our expectations. With this budget, I believe the answer is clear. I’m not willing to lower mine.
I’d welcome a reply from both of you, and I’ll share any response I receive here on this blog.
Respectfully,
Albert Ruel
Parksville, BC
Constituent, Courtenay–Alberni
