"This Is Just What Liberals Like To Do, Spend Money," Says Portage-Lisgar MP Of Federal Budget – PembinaValleyOnline.com

Portage-Lisgar MP and deputy leader of the official opposition Candice Bergen says the federal Liberal budget has let a lot of Canadians down.

The first federal budget in more than two years was presented Monday afternoon by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, and proposes over $100B in new spending, something Bergen says isn't surprising.

"This is just what Liberals like to do - spend money. (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau and the Liberals do not have the ability to manage the economy," says Bergen. "(The budget) is not going to do what's needed to create jobs. It's really what Trudeau has called his reimagined economy, which dabbles in risky economic activities like abandoning our natural resources. It really leaves our economy in a very precarious position. So, I'm concerned about this budget."The first federal budget in more than two years was presented this afternoon and proposes over $100B in new spending, something Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen says isn't surprising. (File photo)

The budget also calls for a tax on luxury items like cars and personal aircraft that retail over $100,000, and boats that retail over $250,000; while also proposing a national childcare plan. Bergen notes that many Canadians were hoping for a plan to safely reopen the economy, but there is little in the budget that addresses that.

"Let's keep this in perspective as well - when COVID hit, the Prime Minister and the federal government had some jobs to do like keep our borders safe and make sure that we had vaccines, they failed miserably on both of those fronts," she notes. "Other countries are vaccinated and starting to think about reopening, and we are now being hit with what I call a Trudeau third wave, and so this budget is really a lot of big spending and it's not going to create jobs. It's not going to do what we wanted to see that needs to be done."

Additionally, the budget shows the federal deficit is projected to sit at $354.2 billion for the year that just ended, with it slated to drop to $154.7B in the current 2021-22 fiscal year.

"There's no fiscal anchor. There's no plan to bring some responsibility back to our economic outlook," she adds. "Not only is there massive spending that's going to result in a massive deficit, but we're also going to have a debt of $1.2 trillion."

The federal government will need at least one opposition party to support the budget to avoid an election this spring.

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"This Is Just What Liberals Like To Do, Spend Money," Says Portage-Lisgar MP Of Federal Budget - PembinaValleyOnline.com