text: *IF* we don't have a recession prior to the end of the 2018/19 fiscal year they will probably be able to balance the budget that year without any meaningful action or effort.
  
  Given the solid fiscal footing Canada's Federal government has had for almost 20 years now it is actually very easy to balance a budget when at the peak of a global economic cycle.  Even if we have a $20B structural deficit (roughly where we stand today) we'll still have a balanced budget in a couple years *IF* the next global recession holds off.
  
  That is a BIG 'if' though, and our government has virtually zero control over the state of the global economy.