Local Conservatives aren’t impressed with the federal government’s fiscal plans for the coming year. 
The budget, presented in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, includes plans for a national pharmacare advisory council, pay equity legislation, and about $1.4 billion to support Indigenous children in foster care and family reunification.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Bev Shipley says the budget may appeal to the top 1% of the population, but does virtually nothing for the average middle class resident.
“Never once did he mention about the debt or the deficit, the accumulation,” Shipley says. “He didn’t mention anything about manufacturing, didn’t mention about agriculture, he didn’t talk about small businesses.”
Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Van Kesteren says he has no problem with most of the initiatives raised in the budget, the issue is where the money to pay for them will come from.
“Socialism’s great, but capitalism pays for it,” Van Kesteren says. “They’re not being honest with people and explaining to them how they’re going to pay for it, they’re just borrowing the money.”
The budget predicts a federal deficit of $18.1 billion, down from $19.3 billion in 2017.
