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DC’s Federal Liberal candidate respond to Conservative budget

April 30, 2015   ·   0 Comments

Last week, Conservative Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivered a “rob Peter to pay Paul” federal budget to narrowly achieve a 2011 Conservative election promise to deliver a balanced budget to Canadians before the next election. With a federal election looming, the Finance Minister sold stock and borrowed from the emergency Contingency Fund to achieve a thin $1.4 billion surplus and call it a promise fulfilled. Shelburne’s Federal Liberal Candidate for Dufferin-Caledon, Ed Crewson, spent a busy weekend meeting ratepayers at the Caledon Home and Lifestyle Show in Bolton, but took time to respond to questions on the tabling of the budget from the Free Press:
What is your reaction to Minister Oliver balancing the books by using funds from the Contingency Plan?
Ed Crewson: “Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver brought in a budget that proposes to have just over a billion dollar surplus by selling GM stock yielding a one-time windfall of over $2 billion and by reducing the contingency fund by $2 billion. In the event of a national calamity the federal government may require more the $1 billion to cover the cost and then the surplus will have to be used or we might even drop into deficit again. The selling of the GM stock will only happen once and could have yielded more revenue had the Harper Government held onto the stock and sold it at another time. The decision to sell the stock was more about the shell-game of appearing to balance the budget by the election than a good financial decision. In fact you can say that about the whole budget; instead of being a sound financial plan, this budget is more about the election this year.”
What did the Conservatives gamble in order to meet their 2011 election promise to balance the budget? Is it politics before sound policy?
Ed Crewson: “The $2.2 billion that 85% of Canadians are going to lose so that 15% of the most affluent Canadians can have another tax break through income splitting shows that Stephen Harper cares more about rewarding the rich than supporting the middle class and those who want to move into the middle class. The increase in the Tax Free Savings Account limit to $10,000 is another example of how the rest of us who do not have $10,000 in savings at the end of the year are going to lose so that those who are affluent win with this budget. So, the Harper Government is gambling that the affluent will continue to vote Conservative and the vast majority of Canadians who are losing by this budget will not come out to vote in the next election because this budget is all about the Harper Conservatives winning the election; it is not about sound financial management.”
Will this “election budget” hurt the Conservatives at the polls? How do you read the Canadian people on this?
Ed Crewson: “The Harper Conservatives are hoping that by rewarding the affluent at the expense of the rest of us, that they will be rewarded by their base supporters, while the Liberals, NDP and the Green Party divide the support of everyone else. Those of us who are concerned about the growing income and wealth inequity among Canadians need to unite behind our leader Justin Trudeau because he cares about supporting the middle class and those who hope to become middle class and as Prime Minister will introduce policies that support the majority of Canadians not simply reward those who are already affluent.”
What happens if oil continues to fall?
Ed Crewson: “If oil prices continue to fall or stay the same then there will be no surplus and the Harper Conservatives will not balance the budget. Remember how many times the Mulroney Conservatives promised to balance the budget and did not; in fact the last time a Conservative lead government actually balanced the budget on its own, was in 1912. This is why I cannot understand why the Harper Conservatives have this reputation for sound fiscal management; they inherited a $13 billion surplus in 2006 from Paul Martin and the Liberals and have squandered it with 7 years of deficit budgets that have added $150 billion to our national debt.”
How does this budget directly affect residents of Dufferin-Caledon?
Ed Crewson: “Residents of Dufferin-Caledon have concerns about transportation, health care, unemployment and the future of farming. None of these concerns were addressed in the budget, so beyond the budget goodies, the issues faced by the residents of Dufferin-Caledon were ignored by this budget; those who are already affluent will have more money and the rest of us will pay for it.”
What points do you agree with in the budget and why?
Ed Crewson: “I agree with the small business tax break to help small business and with the increase in spending on infrastructure, security and the military, but all of these are simply promises to implement in 2017 and beyond, and not immediate action. I agree with the objective of the increase in the Universal Child Tax Credit since it is designed to support children. For years, Liberals have been calling for improved compassionate care EI benefits, for a longer accelerated capital cost allowance horizon for manufacturing, and for greater flexibility on RRIF withdrawals.”
This week, Mr. Crewson is joining The Headwaters Food & Farming Alliance (HFFA) to participate in the “Put Food in the Budget” Campaign with an end goal of increasing social assistance food allowances. Along with about a dozen other Dufferin County community members, he will live off an emergency food hamper for three days to raise awareness about food access. Reflecting on this, in context to the new federal budget, the Federal Liberal Candidate said, “Most people I talked to at the Caledon Home Show and in my door knocking have realized that the budget is more about re-electing the Harper Conservatives than sound financial planning for the future of Canada. Doing this food bank challenge, I realize how little there is in this budget to assist those in need now; nothing for affordable housing for example, but it has tax breaks for those who are already affluent and the people I talk to, are unhappy with the budget.”

By Marni Walsh

         

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