On Parliament Hill

With the release of the federal budget this past week, many families may be wondering how they will be impacted. First of all, the Liberal government is leaving families on the hook for their $30 billion deficit. The Liberals campaigned on a promise to limit the deficit to $10 billion, signifying another broken promise and leaving our children and grandchildren with the burden of an increased debt load. And that’s just in year one. According to their own projections, the Liberal government won’t be able to balance the budget on the timeline they promised either. In order to pay for its increased spending, the Liberal government is ending the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, the Children’s Art Tax Credit, and tax credits for post-secondary education and textbooks. Income splitting for families has also been stripped away.

Small businesses can’t expect tax relief either. The budget revealed that the Liberals have walked away from a campaign promise to reduce the small business tax rate from 11% to 9%. In fact, the higher tax credit introduced by our previous Conservative government won’t be renewed by the Liberals either, leaving small businesses with a greater tax burden. As for the agricultural sector, I am troubled by the fact that farmers go completely unmentioned in the budget. Here in southeastern Manitoba farm families are at the heart of our rural communities.

While it is unfortunate that the Liberal government is taking away important tax relief initiatives from Canadian families and small businesses, there are some encouraging aspects of the budget which are worth mentioning. Low-income families will benefit from an increase in the child tax credit. That said, only some families will benefit from these changes while others will be completely left out. Furthermore, the budget aims to increase E.I. benefits and to reduce the wait time for people facing unemployment. Unfortunately this is not accompanied by any plan whatsoever to create jobs, and I am certain that Canadians would sooner choose a good job over being on E.I. benefits.

The Liberal budget will not stimulate the economy or create jobs and taxes are on the way up. As the Member of Parliament for Provencher, I recognize the impact this budget will have on our communities and I will continue to stand up for families, farmers, and small businesses at every opportunity.