Beaches-East York Liberal MP Maria Minna can't think of one positive thing to say about the new federal budget.
"I read it and I just wanted to cry," said the longtime local member of parliament, adding she feels the budget is just an interim thing so Stephen Harper can get the majority government he wants and move forward with the budget he really wants."There's so much more that could be done. (The federal budget) has all the jargon but there's no substance."Minna, who currently serves as the official opposition critic for labour, said the budget really does nothing to improve Canada's economy, especially the deficit."(The Conservatives') objective is to cut government, shrink and privatize," she said, adding there's no clear plan provided in the budget for rolling out promised stimulus dollars."They've announced the funding three, four, five times and it still doesn't go out."Further, Minna said she feels the budget has no vision when it comes to Canada's industrial base."In Ontario, for instance, the manufacturing economy has collapsed and it's going to take the longest to (recover)," she said, adding she doesn't want to see Canada's economy fall further behind."The government of Canada is showing no leadership in all sorts of areas."Minna feels Canada's federal government should take its cue from Germany, whose economy, she said, is made up of 40 per cent renewable energy jobs."That would be a good model to consider," she said, noting rebuilding an economy requires investments in education, green technology and innovation.In terms of social infrastructure, Minna said she feels the federal budget provides no increases in the child benefit, no environmental plan, no health care planning, and no concrete plan for assisting low-income seniors, many of whom rely on food banks to eat."Isn't that pathetic? How sad. And they wouldn't even mention the word housing," she added.Toronto-Danforth MP Jack Layton was equally appalled by the lack of support for aging Canadians, not to mention the unemployed and the environment."Why should seniors be going to food banks? That's just simply wrong," he said.Unlike his counterpart to the east, Layton said there are some potentially positive aspects in the new federal budget, namely the reference to setting up an independent RCMP review system for public complaints as well as the extension of infrastructure funding.Like Minna, Layton said he's concerned about how those funds will be assigned and rolled out. "There's no comprehensive strategy to create jobs. You're not out of a recession until you create jobs," he said, adding federal dollars should be used to help small businesses where jobs are created, not big institutions.Layton, who also leads the federal New Democratic Party, said his party simply can't support a budget that gives major financial institutions and profitable oil companies tax breaks."This isn't the right time to be shipping tax dollars their way. They are the true winners in this budget and what have they done to deserve it," Layton asked, adding banks and large oil companies are giving their leaders fat bonuses, not reinvesting profits in the Canadian economy.He pointed to federal budget sub-amendments where his party is calling for the elimination of the new Harmonized Sales Tax in Ontario. The House of Commons voted 262-37 against those sub-amendments late Tuesday afternoon."We think the Harper government has made some wrong choices here. The NDP can't support this budget as it's written because it doesn't reflect the needs of real Canadians."The Liberal Party did not propose any amendments to the 2010 federal budget.