The federal budget was presented a few weeks ago, and slowly more details are coming to light, such as the dental plan and a grocery rebate. While it has yet to be passed, Damin Kurek, MP for Battle-River Crowfoot is still not seeing anything he could support.
On April 20, the Budget Implementation Act was introduced, and Kurek expected there would be a number of budget votes coming.
“We’re still waiting for details. The budget is the template, but we are looking for specific details on a lot of what the government announced,” said Kurek.
He expects it will be the focus of the Canadian Parliament over the next few weeks. He noted the Conservatives requested the Liberal Government include three key items in this budget: allow Canadians to bring home powerful paycheques with lower taxes, so hard work pays off again; bring home lower prices by ending inflationary carbon tax hikes and deficit spending which drive up inflation and interest rates; and bring homes people can afford by removing government gatekeepers to free up land, and speed up building permits.
“It is interesting that some of the things the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister said repeatedly over the last couple of years, fiscal anchors, for example, the red line that she would never cross is increasing Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio,” he said. “That red line has been erased, or crossed or missed altogether. We have seen the cost of maintenance on our debt balloon dramatically to $41 billion. To put that into context, $41 billion in debt maintenance, that not even making payments, that simply paying the debt servicing costs. Yet our deficit is $43 billion…so we are borrowing unbelievably huge amounts of money to simply service the debt.”
He also notes there are many programs that are looking more expensive than they initially were projected to be.
“Take dental, for example. A lot of Canadians were following closely when the announcements related to dental care were made, but there is very little collaboration with provinces on what is and what is not covered. That is certainly an ongoing frustration, and the Liberals seem to be acting without consulting their provincial counterparts,” he said.
“Canadians are struggling, they need certainty, they need predictability, and that is certainly not what we are getting from this most recent budget.”
He said the party is willing to work with anyone who is willing to put Canadians’ best interests first.
“The Liberals were not interested in working with us when they put it together. I am not optimistic they will be any more collaborative than they were on that part when it comes to the Budget Implementation Act,” he said.
Leader of the Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, also expressed his disappointment and informed the House Conservatives will be voting against the budget.