Today, the Federal Government tabled it’s budget for the 2019 fiscal year, their last budget before the 2019 federal election later this year.
Due to a number of factors surrounding this year’s budget, Larry Miller, Member of Parliament for BruceGrey-Owen Sound, will not be providing fulsome commentary on the budget until the morning of March 20th, 2019.
With these documents, the devil is in the details. In their last budget, the current
Government snuck in a provision dealing with deferred prosecution agreements which is
at the heart of the current SNC-Lavalin scandal.
Mr. Miller would like to take the time to study the budget fully and provide fulsome comments after careful reflection.
That said, Budget 2019 commits to a $19.8 billion deficit despite the Prime Minister’s
2015 election promise to return the budget to balance by this year.
Miller recognizes that some measures such as the proposed $2.2 billion top-up to municipalities through the Gas Tax Fund could benefit municipalities in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound but, with only months to go until the next federal election and this Government’s proven inability to get infrastructure funding out the door, it is difficult to say with any certainty.
“I will be taking the time needed to examine the budget and will be providing comments
when I’ve had a chance to review it but I am very disappointed to see that we will be
continuing to go further and further into debt with another deficit this year,” said Miller.
“The Prime Minister has broken his promise to Canadians. This broken promise serves
as a benchmark for all other promises made in this budget. They are nothing more than
vote-buying election stunts that Canadians will not be fooled by.”
