By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—The Federal Liberal government’s recently announced budget for 2023 has drawn a divisive array of responses from various political and public organizations around the country.
With affordability of life top of mind for many people, the budget showcased plans to address that issue alongside healthcare, the beginning stages of a federal dental care program, and a grocery rebate program aimed at putting money back in Canadian pockets through an increased quarterly GST rebate for low-income families.
It also comes with a larger-than-projected increase in deficit spending, something that raises the concern of Haldimand Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis, who called the budget an abandonment of “common fiscal sense.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called it a “bonanza of $43 billion of new inflation, debt, and taxes that will be on the back of everyday, harworking Canadians…. The gross cost of all the new spending announcements in this budget works out to $4,300 for every single Canadian family. That’s almost enough to house the Prime Minister in his hotel room for one night. That’s how expensive this government has become.”
Lewis said that in the lead-up to the budget rollout, she has been hearing one message from her constituents above all others: “Life is getting too expensive.”
She elaborated, “Their pay cheques are not keeping up with the rising costs of everything…. In fact, 1 in 5 Canadians have said that they are skipping meals because of the affordability crisis. We’ve seen the cost of the average down-payment for a home in Canada doubled over the last eight years, and 9 in 10 Canadians who don’t own a home now believe that they never will.”
Lewis said those struggles were behind the Conservative’s call for the Federal government to reduce taxes so that workers would take home more of what they earn and stop “inflationary deficits that continue to drive up costs.”
She continued, “Having admitted that deficit spending drives inflation, the Liberal’s budget announced a $40 billion deficit, with $43 billion in new spending, higher taxes, and increased inflationary pressure on Canadians.”
A breakdown of the budget shows that in addition to doubling the GST rate for low-income families, the five-year dental care implementation plan comes with a $13 billion price tag alongside $20 billion over six years toward tax credits promoting green technology, the creation of a new anti-foreign-interference agency with currently undefined costs, and $4 billion toward Indigenous housing over seven years.
In addition to the increased deficit, the government predicts larger than expected deficits over the next five years and a new Federal debt total of $118 trillion.
Ultimately, Lewis believes the broad impact of the 2023 federal budget on area residents will include higher taxes and more inflationary pressure. She added, “The average Haldimand Norfolk household is now on the hook for $81,000 in federal debt, and the 2023 budget has no forecasted path to return to balance.”
She said the Liberals grocery rebate plan comes up “woefully short” in the face of increasing inflation at the checkout, noting, “Canada’s Food Price Report 2023 predicts a family of four will spend $1,065 more this year in groceries. That’s beyond the staggering increases in food prices Canadians are already suffering…. Something that would see a reduction in the price of food is the removal of the carbon tax that impacts the cost of producing and transporting our Canadian grown food.”
The federal dental care program is a budget highlight and was key to the NDP supporting the budget, seen as a good-faith investment in the tenuous agreement between the two parties. However, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was reserved, commenting “we’re proud but not satisfied” when asked about the budget’s expansion of the Canada Dental Benefit to now include Canadians under 18, seniors, and people living with a disability. If eligible, they can now receive between $260-$650 in tax-free payments based on their family’s net income.
Lewis reserved her comments on the program, noting that the budget is missing “key details” on how the program works, but she added, “It’s important to note that a large majority of Canadians have dental coverage, and that in most provinces, Ontario included, programs exist to provide dental care to low-income seniors and children.”
She is more concerned on the budget’s implication for first-time home buyers: “For those who are losing hope in the dream of working hard and one day owning a home, the budget does not adequately address the issue of housing affordability. As long as the gatekeepers in many of our major cities continue to block the development of housing, and delay permitting, we won’t see the growth that we need to build the 3.5 million homes that the CMHC projects that we need to restore affordability.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has defended the budget’s fiscal responsibility.
“By exercising fiscal restraint, and not pouring fuel on the fire of inflation today, we will ensure we can responsibly invest in Canadians and in a Canadian economy for years to come,” she said at a news conference in Oshawa prior to the budget’s unveiling.
Lewis isn’t buying it, concluding her critique, “Our Conservative party is the only party calling on a return to common sense fiscal policy that benefits the common people.”
