The Financial Post reports in its Friday, April 12, edition that CPA Canada economist David-Alexandre Brassard notes that a balanced federal budget is a rare occurrence. The Post's Barbara Shecter writes that in fact, it has only occurred once since 2008, and there seems to be no desire to do so now. Instead, Ottawa has committed to keeping annual deficits under 1 per cent of GDP by a certain number, which could help keep the deficit below $40-billion. However, Mr. Brassard says even that pledge may be scratched due to new pharmacare spending alongside increases in personnel costs and potential increases in military spending. Nevertheless, other economists anticipate Ottawa will do everything it can to keep the deficit in check. CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld expects the finance minister to stick closely to earlier deficit targets, which means that the budget will need either tax measures or spending cuts to offset the new spending we have been hearing about. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said that middle-class Canadians will not face higher taxes to pay for the new programs and services, which raises the prospect that those tax measures would be applied to wealthy Canadians or corporations.