2017 federal budget falls short for Huron-Bruce, says MP Ben Lobb

Dear Editor:

Once again, prime minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government have hiked taxes on Canadian families and small businesses.

Budget 2017 also confirms that the prime minister broke his campaign promise to keep deficit spending under control and balance the budget by 2019. Instead, he wants to borrow billions more.

The budget includes tax hikes for beer and wine, child care, small business owners (including, farmers, anglers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.), donated medicines, oil and gas companies, and tourism. This is in addition to ending tax breaks for children’s arts and sports lessons.

There is nothing in this Liberal budget that puts more money in the pockets of hardworking Canadian families. Instead, they got higher taxes and more debt that will have to be paid off by future generations.

Just last week, the prime minister admitted that $195-million of the funding for “child care” will actually be going to Ottawa bureaucrats instead of families that need it. The Liberals can’t tell us how many child care spaces they are actually going to create. They “hope” its 40,000 but don’t seem to actually have a plan. Instead of growing the middle class, they’re growing government and Canadian families are going to foot the bill.

Budget 2017 does nothing to support hard-working farmers in Huron-Bruce. In fact, farmers and anglers may face higher insurance premiums resulting from the Liberals’ decision to scrap the income-tax exemption for insurers of farming and fishing property. And by failing to provide any details regarding the next agricultural policy framework, the Liberals have left farmers in the dark. What support programs will they have in the future?

Municipalities need good infrastructure, but they also need programs that are easy to access, provide predictable funding, and do not leave small and rural communities behind. Budget 2017 contained no new infrastructure spending beyond what was announced in the 2016 Fall Economic Statement. Municipalities need infrastructure investments to prosper and help keep property taxes lower.

Trudeau and the Liberal government’s priorities are not the priorities of ordinary hard-working Canadians. Conservatives will continue to be the voice of the taxpayer and we will not stay silent while the government nickels-and-dimes Canadians.

Sincerely,
Ben Lobb
Huron-Bruce MP