In his media release on the recent federal budget, the Conservative candidate seems proud of his party’s “balanced” budget.
This budget was only balanced by raiding the EI fund (which belongs to the workers who paid dues into it) for $1.8 billion, taking $2 billion out of the $3-billion contingency fund and selling our GM shares at below-market prices.
Readers should be aware that this is the first balanced budget the Conservatives have tabled in the last seven years. According to Statistics Canada, the party with the best record of balancing provincial budgets in Canada over the past 35 years is—wait for it—the NDP.
The Conservative budget rewards the wealthy and does little or nothing for lower and middle income Canadians. The doubling of the Tax Free Savings Account maximum to $10,000 is only useful for individuals with $10,000 in the bank at the end of the year. Harper’s new income-splitting provision will only benefit the top 15 percent of income earners and will cost all taxpayers $2.2 billion.
The NDP proposal for a $15/day childcare plan will, on the other hand, directly benefit working families that need two incomes to get by. This program will create jobs and generate salaries that will be spent in our communities.
Richard Cannings, NDP federal candidate, South Okanagan-West Kootenay
