The Conservative government's 2010 Federal budget is somewhat bland, according to Parkdale-High Park MP Gerard Kennedy, but was nonetheless a little hard to swallow for not only the Liberal politician, but for some of his constituents who attended his annual post-budget breakfast on March 5.
Despite being billed as Canada's economic action plan 'Year 2' and promising to "lead the way on jobs and growth," Harper's budget falls short on those subjects as well as on innovation, according to the Liberal party. "This is a very pessimistic view of Canada. It underestimates Canadians," Kennedy told his audience, who enjoyed a continental breakfast at Loyola Arrupe Centre for Seniors at the corner of Bloor Street West and Keele Street. Canadian citizens do not want to see an election, however, the Liberals won't support the budget, said Kennedy. "I haven't heard how the other parties are going to vote, but the Liberals won't vote for this," he said.Kennedy said he would have had respect for this year's budget had the government admitted, 'we had some problems.'Less than 50 per cent of the stimulus funding to help people took place, Kennedy pointed out. "The government has restated every initiative that it took last year," he said, citing infrastructure spending as an example. "They didn't spend money on infrastructure. They said they'd spend $3.2 billion, but the maximum they spent was $1.6 billion. The government won't release what it has spent - They've re-labeled some of their funding that they didn't spend."Parkdale-High Park Councillor Bill Saundercook told Kennedy, the Liberal infrastructure critic, that he was disappointed in the federal government's stance on such big ticket items such as transit, housing and day care on a national front. Toronto is not getting its fair share of infrastructure money, especially when it comes to transit, said Saundercook. Toronto's Transit City is receiving $8 billion in government funding, although $7 billion of that is coming from the provincial level, replied Kennedy. "I certainly want to see a national transit plan. Housing is the same thing. We made a mistake by getting out of housing. Toronto is still constrained in that respect. For young couples and seniors, they're getting squeezed out of their neighbourhoods because there's no housing policy."The problem with budgets, said Kennedy, is that they can get alienating because they're dealing with bigger numbers than the average person deals with. The 2010 Budget "is trying to distract you with the thousands and smaller millions."For example, said Kennedy, the Conservatives are providing $1 million to create new veteran memorials, but are not offering funding for recovery from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It isn't all doom and gloom for Canada. Our country experienced less of an economic downturn than that of our neighbour, the United States. It has experienced fewer layoffs than in the U.S. Our unemployment rate sat at eight per cent, compared to American's 10 per cent in 2009. "To me, that's the core focus, what does the budget do for people who aren't working?" asked Kennedy. The Conservative government's job creation targets don't make up for the 300,000 jobs already lost or the rise in unemployment forecasted in this year's budget. There was some increase to unemployment insurance and retraining programs, which were effective over the past year, said Kennedy. A lot of the programs for unemployed though are up in May. "The government is telling us the recession will be a V-shape. The problem with a sizable V-dip is that it might not happen. There is no contingency in the budget. We're not set up for anything, but a recovery," Kennedy said. "The message in the budget is that there is a temporary blip."Personal income tax is down, corporate taxes are down by 25 per cent. "How do we make sure the measures we worked for last year make a difference this year," Kennedy said. "We need good jobs, we need a knowledge-based economy. We've been dropping in terms of what we spend on technology."The Conservative budget won't touch taxes until the E.I. premium kicks in, it won't take any services away and freezes MPs salaries. "Is this all that Canada is capable of?" asked Kennedy. "Is it the best Canada can do? I voted for last year's budget in good faith. They did not do a good job of implementing it."High Park area resident David Nichol, a self-proclaimed Gerard Kennedy supporter, said he is impressed with the work the MP does to keep the government accountable. "There's no better way to get an idea of what's happening, if the government is fulfilling its promises than with Gerard," said Nichol about why he felt it was important to attend the early morning event.