CONSERVATIVES SCREW UP FIRST BUDGET!!!

Leader of the Official Opposition Bill Graham and Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum slammed the Conservative government’s first budget for failing to address the real needs of Canadian families, for abandoning fiscal responsibility and for failing to provide an economic vision for the future.

“Given the strong fiscal record the Conservatives inherited from the former Liberal government – the strongest since Confederation – it is outrageous that this government is raising income taxes for all Canadians, walking away from Kyoto and addressing climate change, cutting funding committed under the Kelowna Accord by 80 percent and excluding any vision for the future of Canada’s prosperity,” said Mr. Graham.

“The fiscal irresponsibility of this budget is completely unacceptable,” added Mr. McCallum. “The Harper government is throwing fiscal prudence out the window and spending savings from program cuts before they even have them in the bank.
“This approach will bring Canada dangerously close to deficit,” said Mr. McCallum. “This budget puts ideology before economics and policy and fails to provide a sound economic vision for the future.”

The budget:

FAILS to maintain fiscal responsibility – The Conservatives are bringing Canada perilously close to a deficit by eliminating fiscal prudence and spending budget cuts before they’re made.

FAILS to provide real tax relief for low- and middle-income Canadians – The Conservatives are hiking income taxes, increasing the basic personal amount by $200 and increasing to 15.5 percent the rate for the lowest tax bracket. Eliminating Liberal income tax cuts in favour of a 1 per cent GST cut has been panned by every serious economist in the country as a plan that will benefit higher income Canadians at the expense of the more needy.

FAILS to address the issue of climate change – Where the rest of the world is moving more and more towards investments and cooperative efforts to reduce climate change, this government has eliminated climate change programs and is getting set to pull out of the Kyoto Accord. The Conservatives’ transit tax credit is costly and ineffective and the Conservatives intend to pay for it by slashing $2 billion in existing climate change programs.

FAILS to provide a real child care choice for parents – As if $20 a week for child care isn’t bad enough, we now see that to help pay for the Conservatives’ child care “program,” low-income parents will be losing the young-child supplement of the Canada Child Tax Benefit, which was due to increase to $249 a year this July. Rather than honouring the Liberal child care agreements – something that the majority of provinces, parents and advocacy groups have demanded – this government insists on forging ahead with a nebulous plan that will delay the creation of new child care spaces.

FAILS to address the very pressing needs of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples – Rather than honouring the historic Kelowna Agreement signed last November, which would substantially improve the lives of our First Nations people, the Conservative government has chosen to ignore them, cutting planned funding by 80 percent, from $5.3 billion to just over $1 billion.

FAILS to make any significant investments in education and innovation – The Liberal government had a very concrete vision for the future that would have helped move this country forward and put us at the forefront of competitiveness and knowledge and innovation. This lackluster and visionless budget contains virtually nothing in this regard. For example our last fiscal update would have provided $2.5 billion for university research. The Conservative budget provides $200 million – less than one-tenth our commitment.

“If the Conservatives continue down this road, they will undo all of the work that we did to put Canada at the head of the G-7. And in the end, only the wealthy will benefit, while those most in need will be left behind,” said Mr. Graham.

“This is the hallmark of a Conservative government – do what it takes to win votes rather than do what is best for the country,” added Mr. Graham.