“How Did You Go Bankrupt?” “Two Ways. Gradually and Then Suddenly.” — Ernest Hemingway’s novel, ‘The Sun Also Rises’
My Thoughts on Trudeau’s Tax and Spend, Inflationary Budget 2024
It was disappointing but not surprising to see the Liberal-NDP coalition government continue their tax and spend policies of the past nine years in their 2024 federal budget. Their past budgets have caused generation-high inflation, financially squeezing families and disillusioning young adults about their futures. At a time when Canadians are looking for hope financially, Trudeau decided to pour more fuel on the inflation fire with $61 billion in new inflationary spending.
Record high food and housing costs are being felt across the country to the point where local food banks are seeing the highest number of visitors ever. Many Canadians are facing the unthinkable choice of buying groceries or paying for home heating. At the same time, housing and rental market prices have reached absurd numbers. In some parts of the country, the minimum income needed for a mortgage is well over a quarter of a million dollars…just to qualify! Edmonton has seen home prices rise substantially as the average price increased to an all-time high — a 7.9 percent increase from last year! It is no wonder why nine in ten Canadians who don’t own a home believe they will never own one.
Economists are also warning that business and household wealth is declining across the country due to a lack of business investment. Less ideological regulations and lower taxes would certainly help entice businesses to invest and develop in Canada, which will result in more employment and wage increases. Yet, the Liberal/NDP are doing the opposite with tax measures that will punish small businesses and drive away entrepreneurs. The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, has stated that the Liberal-NDP coalition’s increased spending is “not helpful” in bringing inflation down. No lower inflation means no drop in punishing interest rates, meaning more expensive food and shelter.
You would think that if even the Governor of the Bank of Canada warned Justin Trudeau to stop spending taxpayer dollars like there’s no tomorrow, he would listen. But common sense instead of ideology is never the case for this radical, out-of-touch coalition. Instead, Trudeau and his Liberal-NDP coalition are projected to add $40 billion to our already bulging debt. Canada’s debt is already over $1.2 trillion and growing.
This year alone, taxpayers will spend $54.1 billion in interest payments on the national debt, which is coincidently the same amount the government takes in on the GST. This is considerably more than what the federal government pays for healthcare and double what the government spends on national defence. And it gets worse: over the next five years, Canadian taxpayers will have to cough up a third of a trillion dollars just on interest on the debt. If we do the math here, there are 15 million homes in Canada, meaning that each household in Canada will have to pay $22,500 solely to pay interest on the debt. Not on healthcare, not on housing, not for our veterans…just interest on the debt.
If the dollars proposed in the federal budget were going to actually benefit taxpayers, then the Liberals and NDP may have seen their support rise in polling that followed the budget. Instead, taxpayers have seen this same song and dance where their money is spent with no tangible results.
It is clear that the Liberal-NDP coalition cannot be trusted to handle Canada’s economy. To fix the budget, Common Sense Conservative government will reign in spending by introducing a ‘dollar for dollar’ rule where the government must find a dollar to save for every new dollar proposed for spending. This proposal will help cut down on wasteful spending and will help reduce inflation. Conservatives will also axe the carbon tax and lower taxes to give relief to Canadian families that are struggling financially.
Canadians have a clear choice in the next election: Trudeau and his costly Liberal/NDP coalition, which broke the budget, or the Common Sense Conservatives, who will Axe The Carbon Tax, Fix The Budget, Build The Homes, and Stop The Crime.
Paper Shredding Event
Have documents containing your personal information that you need to get rid of but are concerned with identity theft? If so, come to our annual free shredding event on May 25. You bring the docs, we’ll bring the big shredding truck! We’re helping the Veterans’ Food Bank so bring along a non-perishable food donation if you can.
Location: Westend Seniors Activity Centre (9629 176 St NW, Edmonton AB T5T 6B3)
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2024
Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Cost: FREE!
In your service,
Kelly McCauley
Member of Parliament for Edmonton West