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Federal budget receives local criticism
The federal government’s 2018 budget, announced yesterday, is receiving criticism from local political and business circles.
Kootenay-Columbia MP Wayne Stetski said federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s deficit budget “does not crack down on tax loopholes for the super-rich; it fails to make real progress on affordable housing, studies universal pharmacare rather than implementing it, and does not take strong enough action to address climate change.
“Today the Finance Minister spoke at length about helping the middle class, but my first impression of the budget plan, is it does little to address the growing inequality in our country,” Stetski said Feb. 27. “People in our region are rightfully asking, ‘if the economy is doing so well, why am I not feeling those benefits?’”
Stetski is also concerned that the Liberals are failing to respond to the urgency of climate change, by delaying most of the funding until after the next election.
“There seems to be gasp between the plans laid out in the budget, and the money to make them happen.”
Action on climate change is one example, and pay equity is another,” Stetski stated. “The legislation on pay equity is long overdue, but there is actually no funding or estimate in the Liberals’ budget allocated to the implementation of pay equity legislation for Federal government employees.”
Stetski continues to voice his concern about the continuing trend of deficit spending; this budget will add another $18.1 billion dollars to Canada’s deficit.
“The Liberals continue to spend much more then they promised in the election,” he said. “I am not sure that the people of Kootenay-Columbia are benefiting today in a way that justifies leaving that burden to the next generation.”
The Liberal budget isn’t all bad, pointed out NDP MP Stetski, as a lift in funding to support parks and conservation is good news.
The 2018 Federal Budget presents many interesting measures but does not address the fundamental issues facing Canada’s economy, says the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce.
“The Canadian business community, led by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, have consistently asked the government to focus on fundamentals like the growing competitiveness gap,” said Chamber Executive Director David D. Hull. “There is a real clear and present need to attract more private sector investment and presenting a realistic plan to balance the government’s books. Unfortunately, today’s budget leaves those asks largely unmet.”
Although the budget sets out many positive measures, including support for women entrepreneurs, a clearer path to Indigenous self-determination and improved skills development, it doesn’t address the most basic issues facing our economy,” said the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “The cost of running a business in Canada is rising rapidly. Without a strong private sector, there’s no way to pay for all this spending, except by sending the bill to our kids.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce set out its proposals to make Canada a more competitive, and attractive, country for businesses in the recent 10 Ways to Build a Canada that Wins document. Among these was a recommendation to make Canada an investment magnet by completely overhauling our archaic tax system, Beatty said.
“The United States is undertaking the most massive tax and regulatory update in generations. Meanwhile, Canadian governments are moving in the opposite direction by increasing costs and adding to the regulatory burden. We urgently need federal leadership to close that competitiveness gap to prevent the loss of billions of dollars of investment from Canada.”
The Cranbrook Chamber joined Chamber of Commerce and Boards of Trade across the country welcoming the greater clarity the budget presented on the government’s approach to taxing private corporations, a sign that government listened to the nationwide chamber network.
“It’s good that the government’s approach is more closely focused than the measures proposed last summer, but there’s still much work to be done,” said Hull.
“Issues like the new measures on passive income, or the unequal taxation of non-tangible goods, are all symptoms of a broken tax system that discourages investment and growth. It’s now more urgent than ever to have a full, independent review of Canada’s tax system,” he continued.
The Cranbrook Chamber is also disappointed in the lack of a concrete and responsible plan to balance the budget, and the unrealistic economic expectations laid out in the budget. Hull lamented, “The economic forecasts seem very aggressive, one could even say rosy, and this can lead to near and long-term shortfalls and a limited ability to deal with downturns.
“By adding a further $27 billion to the national debt in 2018, the government appears to believe that we can spend our way to prosperity. If Ottawa continues to run up the debt when times are good, we can only speculate on what our national finances will look like next time there is a downturn,” he said.
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