The 2022 federal budget includes more than $31 billion in new spending over the next five years.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, Cheryl Gallant, tells myFM the higher spending included in the 2022 budget and the tax increase that came in on April 1st will keep driving up inflation.
Gallant says the price of fuel continues to rise and all this government has to say is, “use a bike or take a hike.”
Gallant doesn’t think the Liberals will live up to their promise to spend $8-billion over the next five years considering previous trends. She says now more than ever defense should be a priority, but adds this government has never taken national security seriously before.
The Conservative MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke says the money announced for SMR (small modular reactor) technology is good news, but adds no additional funds were announced for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) or Atomic Energy Limited of Canada (AECL) in Chalk River.
The 2022 federal budget laid out $5.3-billion-dollars for a new dental care program. The terms of the deal say the government must start with children under the age of 12 in 2022, expand to under 18-year-olds, seniors and people with disabilities in 2023, and fully implement the program by 2025. Dental care for low and medium income families is a major element of the confidence and supply agreement the Liberals signed with the NDP to keep the government in power until 2025.
The federal budget laid out a plan to have 20 percent of new cars emission free by 2026 and 60 percent by 2030. The Canadian auto industry says federal programs for electric vehicles and charging stations aren’t enough to reach the government’s new sales targets.
With no money put forward in the budget, Canada’s first ministers say the federal budget fails to address the major health-care challenges facing Canadians. Provinces want the federal government to increase its share of health spending, with an immediate increase of about $28-billion, along with minimum annual funding increases of five per cent.
(written by: Rudy Kadlec with files from The Canadian Press)
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Federal budget includes $31-billion in new spending over next five years