Kyle Seeback, Member of Parliament for Dufferin-Caledon, reacted to the Liberal Government’s Economic and Fiscal ‘Snapshot’ tabled in the House of Commons by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, on July 08, 2020.
“The biggest takeaway from the Liberal government’s economic and fiscal ‘snapshot’ is the federal deficit is expected to hit $343.2 billion this year with the federal debt load to hit a staggering $1.2 trillion in 2020-21,” said Mr. Seeback. He continued, “While many Canadians have benefitted from the COVID-19 programs, countless Canadians continue to be forgotten in the Liberals’ COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, especially small business owners. This leaves us with the question, how could so much money be spent while so many Canadians were left behind.”
The economic and fiscal ‘snapshot’ provides a short-term economic summary of the federal government’s spending since the pandemic began. However, it does not provide any direction or outline a plan for Canada’s path to economic recovery. The Liberal government has also refused to provide at least a five-year forecast.
When asked about what he’s been hearing from Dufferin-Caledon’s small business community, Mr. Seeback responded, “Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, many local business owners have called and written me, saying they’re struggling to survive and the COVID-19 support measures are either non-existent or they’re inaccessible because of restrictive eligibility criteria. You would expect after almost four months and unprecedented spending for there to be better supports in place for small businesses who are the economic drivers of Canada’s economy and will be essential to our road to recovery.”
The Conservative Official Opposition has been calling on the Liberal government to not only provide a fiscal update, but to tell Canadians how they intend to steer Canada’s economic recovery following months of uncertainty and record spending. Conservatives have also continued to present constructive solutions to improve the government’s COVID-19 response programs, to ensure Canadians receive the help they need. The ‘snapshot’ also shows for this year alone, a revenue loss of $71.1 billion, spending increases of $236.9 billion, and that the federal debt has increased to 49.1 per cent of GDP.
“It’s shocking that despite this dire outlook of Canada’s economy, the Trudeau government has still failed to provide Canadians with any form of a road map to recovery,” said Mr. Seeback. “There’s no plan for stimulating growth, creating jobs, or attracting investment. Leadership is completely absent when we need it the most. However, Canadians can count on Conservatives to continue to call on this government to present a transparent plan to guide Canada’s recovery.”
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