Conservative MP Rick Perkins speaking in the House of Commons. Photo: Office of Rick Perkins.
Conservative MP for South Shore- St.Margarets Rick Perkins says there is too much spending in the latest federal budget and the increases in spending miss the mark on the needs of Canadians.
“Throughout the pandemic, the Liberals have been quick to hand out money through various programs, this budget continues this trend and if it doesn’t stop soon future generations will be burdened by the debt we racked up through the pandemic,” Perkins said. “The more Liberals spend, the more expensive everything gets. The NDP-Liberal government has doubled down on their uncontrolled spending and higher taxes. Instead of tax breaks for Canadians, Trudeau is using inflation revenue to grow the government.”.
Perkins believes there was an opportunity to deliver a balanced budget this year, but he feels the Liberal-NDP coalition derailed any chances of that happening. “Things could have been balanced this year, but we’re now seeing the spending habits of the coalition which seem to be carefree in terms of debt.”.
Adding new programs like the federal dental plan which will cost $5.3 billion over the next five years doesn’t make sense to Perkins when there are more pressing needs, “The new programs being supported as part of the coalition agreement are already costing us $15 billion and the agreement has only been in place for a few weeks now,”.
He would have preferred to see more targeted spending to address the housing crisis, but he says the funding offered is unlikely to ease the strains on Canadians.
The budget will increase military spending from 1.3 per cent of annual GDP to 1.4 per cent, but Perkins says with the situation in Ukraine he’d like to see it rise further to 2 per cent.
He went on to say that defense spending is particularly impactful in Atlantic Canada with the Department of Defense being the largest employer in the Atlantic region.
In an effort to keep his constituents informed Perkins also released a statement detailing his full reaction to the budget.
