It remained unclear whether Opposition parties in the House of Commons in Ottawa would pursue a vote of non-confidence in the government over its recently released budget, as of press time Wednesday.
Depending on the outcome, a federal election may soon be on, or it may not.
Regardless, Cariboo-Prince George Member of Parliament Dick Harris said Wednesday he was ready to campaign on both the budget and the Conservative government’s record.
The budget — introduced in the house Tuesday — is the government’s continuation of its economic action plan, he said.
“We’re keeping taxes low; we’re addressing the needs of family, seniors and students and rural doctors, volunteer firefighters and investing heavily in the forest innovation sector to create new value-added products,” Harris said in a phone interview from Ottawa.
Contained in the government’s budget speech are promises to keep taxes low; a one-year Employment Insurance break as a targeted incentive to encourage small businesses to hire new employees; an extension of the current Forest Innovation and Market Development programs; a tax credit for people caring for infirm spouses, common-law partners and minor children; a children’s art tax credit; an extension of the home-energy retrofit program; more money for low-income seniors through an increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement; the development of a pooled registered pension plan; student-loan forgiveness for doctors and nurses who practice in rural and remote locations; and a volunteer firefighter tax credit.
“We created this budget on the principles of the economic action plan based on months of consultation with Canadians,” Harris said.
The Cariboo-Prince George riding has benefitted from the Conservative government, he added, receiving an approximate cash injection in the Williams Lake region of $84 million since 2006; a large portion of that funding went to improve roads and highways. The Mackenzie Avenue rehabilitation project, $3.5 million of which the federal government has funded, is one example of the financial boon experienced locally.
The federal government, said Harris, won’t cut major transfers for health care and education to the provinces. Overall, the budget shows a $33.7 billion deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The government projects the deficit will decrease to $27.6 billion by 2011-12, $17.5 billion in 2012-13 and $1.8 billion in 2014-15.
Harris charged the opposition parties with playing political games and suggested that by forcing an election they hope for another Conservative minority government from whom they will wrest power in order to form a coalition government.