Canada’s minority Liberal government has unveiled billions of dollars in new spending in its first budget since last fall’s federal election.
The document includes roughly $452-billion in new spending, including money focused on tackling the housing crisis, addressing climate change, increased defence spending, and a dental care program, among other items.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the national deficit is expected to decline to 2% this year, down from 4.6% last year.
Local Conservatives, including Lambton-Kent Middlesex MP Lianne Rood, aren’t impressed.
“This budget is funded by Canadians who have been suffering from inflation and having a hard time over the last number of years,” Rood says. “In order to control inflation, the government needs to control spending, and in this budget they failed.”
Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Epp says while there were some good components and lots of promises, the main omission was a path back to a balanced budget.
“I’m not opposed to government spending, but it’s got to be done in balance. You’ve got to prioritize some of the issues and address them, but if you don’t do it in a balanced form, you experience what we’re experiencing, and that’s inflation,” Epp says. “The overall thing I was looking for, I think Canadians were looking for is a path back to balance, and that’s not in this budget.”
Epp says the supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP has added $15-billion in new spending.
The budget is expected to pass easily thanks to the Liberal Party’s supply and confidence agreement with the NDP.
