The federal government tabled its 2023 budget last Tuesday, the first budget after a full year of the confidence and supply agreement between the NDP and Liberals. This budget delivers good news to millions of Canadians, important help that has always been the focus of the NDP. But some important initiatives are missing as well.
The big news was the official announcement of a fully-funded dental care program for Canadians who don’t have a dental care plan now. This program will literally change the lives of 9 million Canadians, giving them relief from pain and the unsightly teeth that are the single visible marker of poverty in this country.
Another giant step forward were the huge investments in clean tech and renewable energy, a critical part of the fight against climate change. The NDP made sure that these investments were tied to thousands of well-paying union jobs so that no workers are left behind as the world shifts to a cleaner future.
An important but more short-term benefit is another temporary doubling of the GST credit that will help lower income Canadians get through this time of high inflation. The government has styled this as a “Grocery Rebate” but it is the same benefit that the NDP fought for and won last fall.
For years, small businesses have been complaining that Canada has some of the highest credit card interchange fees in the world. In my role as small business critic, I’ve repeatedly met with VISA, MasterCard, Moneris, Aeroplan and other players to discuss the complicated world of interchange fees. Decades of NDP pressure paid off in this budget, when the government announced that they had reached agreements with financial institutions to reduce fees by 27 percent, saving small businesses across the country about a billion dollars each year.
One of the most important inputs into the local economy are the craft breweries, craft distilleries and wineries. The steep rate of inflation this past year has hit this sector with high prices for everything that goes into making their products, from grains to bottles, but this year they were also facing an increase in the excise tax tied to inflation—an additional 6.3 percent. On top of that, these producers have to deal with competition from American producers that operate under an excise tax structure that strongly favours small producers. I had lobbied strongly for a pause in the excise tax increase as well as a restructuring of the tax itself to help small producers survive and grow, but had to settle for a partial victory when the government capped the increase at 2 percent but didn’t change the structure.
Along with these major and minor victories, there were several major disappointments. Years of repeated climate disasters has left the federal government on the hook for billions of dollars in annual clean up and rebuilding costs. It would make sense to invest similar amounts to protect communities from these disasters—climate adaptation—that would save more than $10 for each dollar invested. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the NDP were both advocating for a $2 billion top up to the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund for just this purpose, but this was missing from the budget.
Another remarkable omission was a long-awaited increase to the funding for graduate students in Canadian universities. Scholarships and fellowships have been frozen since 2003, forcing our best and brightest young researchers to work for less than minimum wage and live in poverty. Despite months of pressure from all levels of the scientific community and a clear sense that the Liberal government knew this was an egregious example of unfair pay, there was no new money in the budget for these students. Their voices will only get louder over the coming months, and you can be assured that I and my NDP caucus colleagues will be standing up for them and all other Canadians needing help in these times.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Richard Cannings, MP, South Okanagan-West Boundary
