Ottawa/Fraser Valley (with files from CBC) – This week, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released their Fall Economic Statement.
As predicted the two Valley Conservative MP’s were not impressed.
From Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl:
“This week, the Minister of Finance tabled the government’s Fall Economic Statement. This economic plan does nothing to address Canada’s cost of living crisis created by out-of-control government spending.”
“Justin Trudeau is running the most expensive government in Canadian history. His inflationary deficits, to the tune of half a trillion dollars, have sent more dollars chasing fewer goods. His inflationary scheme is hiking up the price of groceries, gas and home heating.”
“Canadians have never paid more in taxes because of this Prime Minister.”
“To reduce inflation and improve Canada’s cost of living, Conservatives had two clear demands. The first was no new taxes. This includes canceling all planned tax hikes and the tripling of the carbon tax. Canadians are struggling to heat their homes and put food on their tables.”
“Our second demand was no new spending. Any new spending by ministers must be matched by an equivalent saving. Cut wasteful spending and stop the inflationary deficits that drive up the cost of everything.”
“None of our demands were met in the Fall Economic Statement and for that reason Conservatives will not support this inflationary update.”
Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon MP Brad Vis:
“Once again, the NDP-Liberal government has shown how out of touch they are with working Canadians and small businesses. Rather than taking this opportunity to rein in spending and reduce the tax burden, the Costly Coalition is pouring more fuel on the inflationary fire,” said MP Vis. “Everything is becoming more expensive, and I had hoped to see real measures in the Fall Economic Statement to address the inflationary crisis, labour shortages and supply chain issues. Unfortunately, today’s statement offered only recycled promises from Budget 2022”.
“In my riding of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, and across Canada, residents are struggling to keep up with the high cost of gas, groceries, and everything else. Small businesses, who, on average, are $145,000 in debt due to the pandemic, simply cannot keep up with the rising cost of doing business. They wanted relief, but instead they got higher taxes, more spending, and higher inflation. “
Here are some highlights of the Fall Economic Statement.
Help for workers
- $4 billion over six years, starting next year, to automatically issue advance payments of the Canada Workers Benefit to those who qualified for the benefit in the previous year.
- $250 million over five years to help workers prepare and retrain for the green energy jobs of the future.
- More than $26 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, to crack down on labour code violations and improve working conditions.
Help for students and youth
- $2.7 billion over five years to make all Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans permanently interest-free as of April 1, 2023, including those now being repaid.
- More than $800 million over three years, starting next year, to support summer jobs, an employment strategy for youth and job placements.
Help for businesses
- A refundable tax credit equal to 30 per cent of capital costs for investments in non-emitting energy, heating and energy storage projects, and zero-emission vehicles.
- $962.2 million over eight years —starting next year, with $121.1 million per year after that — to modernize the National Research Council’s infrastructure and boost innovation.
- $1.28 billion over six years and $55.4 million each year after that to speed up approval of natural resource and energy projects
Other measures
- The federal government says it will deploy a threat of legislation as it negotiates with credit card companies to get them to lower fees without affecting reward points programs.
- It’s promising to tax share buybacks and introduce a new minimum tax regime for the richest Canadians, measures that are expected to boost government revenue by $2.1 billion over five years.
- It’s setting aside $1 billion in 2022-23 for Hurricane Fiona-related requests from provinces under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements.
- And it’s earmarking $8.5 billion over six years to respond to economic pressures expected to hit Canada in the near term.
