Chrystia Freeland’s last budget as finance minister was rated by Canadians as “mediocre,” “unfocused” and “smoke and mirrors,” says in-house focus group research by the Department of Finance. Pollsters hired by the department said taxpayers, especially older Canadians, were upset by unchecked deficit spending: “Words used to describe the budget included ‘insufficient,’ ‘mediocre,’ ‘meh.'”