Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge MP Marc Dalton said the Liberal government’s $535 billion 2024 federal budget, announced Tuesday, is putting the country too far in debt.
He noted that the interest payments on Canada’s debt will now be $54 billion per year, or more than $1 billion every week.
“We’re spending more on interest payments than we are on health care to the provinces,” groused the Conservative MP, who said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have out-of-control spending.
He said the massive government borrowing causes high inflation, which the government has countered by raising interest rates. The MP said he hears from homeowners who fear they will not be able to pay their mortgages when it’s time to renew.
“They’re undermining everything due to their lack of budget control.”
The new budget includes $53 billion in new spending over five years. The deficit will total $40 billion for the year, which will be added to the national debt of more than $1.2 trillion – about double what it was when Trudeau was voted into office in 2015.
In announcing the budget, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland highlighted the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline project, which is scheduled to be completed in May. She said it will add one-quarter of a percentage point to the GDP in the second quarter.
Dalton said the project is a black eye on the government, because it was budgeted at $7.4 billion in being completed by a private company, but the cost has ballooned to $35 billion.
“That’s thousands for every Canadian family, and that has an impact.”
The Liberal government touts the 2024 budget highlights including:
• Housing: Building more homes with $15 billion in loans for the Apartment Construction Loan Program, for a minimum of 30,000 new rental apartments. Providing $15 million for a Tenant Protection Fund. An additional $1 billion to build affordable homes by non-profits, co-operatives and other providers.
• An additional $1.1 billion for student grants and loans.
• $2.4 billion for artificial intelligence support, aimed at researchers, start-ups, and expanding businesses.
The budget gets new revenue by increasing capital gains taxes, which is projected to impact only Canada’s highest earners.
“Our renewed focus today is unlocking the door to the middle class for millions of younger Canadians,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in the budget document.
“We are acting today to ensure fairness for every generation,” she said in her budget speech.
Asked if the government deserves kudos for their work on the housing affordability file, Dalton was not willing to acknowledge the Liberals’ new initiatives.
“They’re scrambling to make it look like they’re doing something,” he said, and added the country is millions of units short on housing.
According to RBC, the all-time peak for housing production was 257,000 completions in 1974, and the country has averaged 218,000 the past three years.
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