North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold is panning what he calls a “short-sighted” 2024 federal budget.
The Liberal government revealed its $535 billion federal budget Tuesday, April 16. It projects a deficit of $39.8 billion, compared with $40 billion last year, and includes $8.5 billion in new spending over the next five years to build millions of new homes, as well as nearly $2.6 billion to enhance student aid and grant programs and open new job opportunities.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the budget aims to provide “generational fairness” to young Canadians by raising taxes for people who have already capitalized on Canada’s economic strengths.
But Arnold said in a press release that the budget compounds financial stressors for citizens, employers, communities and local governments who will face tax hikes.
“Prime Minister Trudeau introduced his ninth consecutive deficit budget that is adding to Canada’s unprecedented public debt that has already increased inflation and interest rates,” Arnold said.
He says the country’s debt is wasting funds that could be spend on the healthcare system, for instance.
“Canada is now spending more on debt interest than it is on healthcare services, and trends like this will be worsened by this latest short-sighted Trudeau budget.”
Arnold said the budget fails to connect federal resources with “real actions and investments that are long overdue.”
He added that funding has been cut for protecting B.C. waters from invasive mussels, an issue he has been vocal about in the past.
Arnold listed a suite of grievances he has with the budget as it concerns his local constituency.
“I am disappointed in this budget because it does not deliver the support or policies that the North Okanagan-Shuswap needs today to increase housing, fight the opioid epidemic, support mental wellness, increase public safety, and restore the security and stability that we all need,” he said.
“I will continue to assess budget 2024 and work with local governments and organizations, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in an effort to connect our communities with opportunities that may exist in the budget.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
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