Spring election looms after budget tabled
Posted Mar 22, 2011 9:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – NDP leader Jack Layton reviewed the budget and said he cannot support it as it stands now. The stage is being set for a federal election as all three opposition parties have said they will not support the federal budget.
“Mr. Harper had an opportunity to address the needs of hard working middle class Canadians and families and he missed that opportunity,” Layton told the press after the budget was announced.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sampled liberally, if frugally, from his political adversaries with a federal budget stuffed with populist goodies in the face of a possible spring election.
The highly politicized Conservative spending blueprint delivered Tuesday includes boutique programs such as a return of the home energy retrofit program, tax credits for caregivers, improved pensions for the very poorest seniors, and tiny tax breaks for tots’ art classes and tutoring.
“Leadership is about finding a balance between needs,” Flaherty told the House of Commons.
Very quickly after the budget was tabled, Ignatieff rejected not only the budget but the Harper government.
“We don’t believe the budget is credible. We’re forced to reject the budget,” said Ignatieff.
Ignatieff added that there was not enough in the budget for seniors.
Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, had been demanding some $5-billion for Quebec and was given short shrift by Flaherty. Duceppe told the press that they would not support the budget because the needs of Quebec had not been met.
