Opposition parties, provinces and think-tanks respond to the federal budget

“Budgets are about priorities and choices. It’s very telling that the Conservatives would rather attack public servants, environmental groups, unions and anyone who dares criticize their short-sighted policies, than help Canadians,” said the Leader of the Official Opposition, Tom Mulcair.

Conservatives failed to act on the NDP’s practical, low-cost solutions – including reining in credit card rates; capping ATM fees; restoring the ecoEnergy Retrofit program; and providing job creation tax credits for youth and small businesses.

“Hundreds of thousands more Canadians are unemployed today than before the recession and are looking to their government for action. This budget is another Conservative disappointment,” added the NDP Finance Critic, Peggy Nash. “Canadians deserve better.”

The Conservatives’ budget fails to deliver real economic growth and solutions for the middle class. Canadians want a new approach, said Liberals today.

“Middle class Canadians need a plan for growth, and this budget has no plan for growth. The only way to achieve a sustainable surplus is with economic growth,” said the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau. “What the Conservatives are doing, balancing the budget for political purposes – on the backs of Canadian workers, defence cuts, and asset sales – is just bad governance.”

“This out of touch, no-growth Conservative budget does nothing for young Canadians, who cannot find good work, or for their parents, who are paying the bills by taking on more personal debt,” said Liberal Finance Critic, Scott Brison. “Instead of this unimaginative, do-nothing budget, Canadian families are looking for investments that will produce growth, including in infrastructure and post-secondary education.”

Quebec minister Nicolas Marceau says Ottawa is creating a new fiscal imbalance, infringing on Quebec jurisdiction, and ignoring nearly all of the provinces demands.

“So, we can talk about predatory federalism,” Marceau said.

He said the federal government has ignored the demand to not have tolls on the Champlain bridge, that it provided money to the Ontario industry without giving similar funding to Quebec's forestry industry, and that it is trespassing on Quebec's domains of health care and post-secondary education.

The 2014-15 federal budget contains the largest annual spending cuts to date, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

There are $14 billion worth of spending cuts announced in previous budgets that will come into effect this fiscal year. Those cuts will cause real damage to Canada’s fragile economy, by removing 0.7% from the country’s already anemic GDP growth.

“The government is happy to re-announce infrastructure funding from previous budgets but what it isn’t telling you is that there are $14 billion worth of previously announced spending cuts already built into this year’s budget,” says CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald. “Canadians can expect to see more and deeper cuts to services and a sluggish economy as a result.”

“If previous cuts are any indication, there will be further reductions to front line services, like those in Veteran’s Affairs and the Coast Guard,” says Macdonald. “All this so the government can implement its promise of extending income splitting to families with children—a hugely expensive tax cut that 86% of families won’t benefit from.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) applauded the federal government’s 2014-15 budget, one that projects the first year-over-year spending cut since the Chrétien-Martin era.

“We’re pleased and encouraged that Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty are on track to keep their election promise and balance the budget in 2014-15,” said CTF Federal Director Gregory Thomas.

“The challenge facing all parties and leaders now is to return the projected $30 billion surplus to Canadian taxpayers over the next five years, by paying down debt and reversing EI payroll tax hikes,” Thomas added.