Voting starts Wednesday night on Parliament Hill on the federal budget bill.

Is federal budget a winner or loser?

The Nugget
By: PJ Wilson
Tuesday, April 21, 2015


Depending on who you listen to, Tuesday’s federal budget will either ensure the re-election of the federal Tories or spell its demise.

It’s as little a surprise that Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Jay Aspin is convinced it will mark a resurgence for the Conservative party, while Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus expects it will only help “wealthy lawyers whose wives stay at home.”

The budget was presented in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon by Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who said it will meet the needs of families, small business owners, municipalities and seniors while delivering a modest surplus for the first time since 2007.

“It’s balanced, which is good,” Aspin said in a telephone interview from Ottawa. “We said we’d balance the budget and we did it.”

Although the federal infrastructure fund, which assists municipalities across the country, is unchanged at $75 billion over 10 years, the feds will add $1 billion a year to assist major cities “to deal with the acute needs of those cities where there is all kinds of growth,” Aspin said.

The money is earmarked for major public transit projects, and will begin to flow in 2017.

“Even though they didn’t increase the infrastructure (fund), they still designate it as a priority,” North Bay Mayor Al McDonald said.

McDonald said the infrastructure funds are disbursed by the provincial government, which last year provided $600,000 to the city in “sustainable funding” under the program.

“It is much appreciated,” McDonald said.

McDonald also applauded a commitment for money to assist the aerospace industry, as well as research projects at colleges and universities.

“As you know, we are working hard to expand our aerospace industry,” McDonald said. “It’s great to see the feds recognize this industry.”

Aspin, who serves as the chair of the Space Caucus and vice-chair of the Aerospace Caucus, said while there is no direct commitment to North Bay in this field, “it is a major thrust for North Bay.

“This commitment is broadly based, but it . . . depends on what types of opportunities arise.”

But Angus is convinced the Conservatives “dropped the ball as far as the North is concerned.

“There’s no mention of the Ring of Fire. A couple of years ago (Aspin) was pushing his deep water port. What happened to that? There is nothing deliverable to the North.”

Aspin, though, said both the federal and provincial governments have drawn back from the Ring of Fire because private industry is pulling back.

“The problem is the companies have withdrawn,” he said, pointing at Cliffs of Canada selling its interest in the Ring of Fire to Noront Resources.

“Right now, there is no economic activity. The opportunity is not there. Ontario is still dithering on road or rail” access to the chromite-rich region in Northwestern Ontario.

The federal government, he said, “won’t throw money at something that isn’t hot. It’s not a priority for the government because it is not a priority for the private sector.”

Angus also slammed the balanced budget, saying the finance minister “had to sell everything including the kitchen sink” to produce the surplus.

He said Ottawa sold the GM stocks it has held since the recession, and has cut the federal contingency fund to $1 billion from $3 billion to achieve that surplus.

“It shows that the government is running . . . the economy by the seat of its pants,” Angus said.

“They bet everything on the tar sands.”

Angus said voters “won’t fall for it. I think Canadians are smart, reasonable. Most of them struggle with debt, and this is a government that has had seven record deficits in a row.

“I don’t think it will wash.”

Aspin, though, said Canadians will be drawn to the budget.

“There are a lot of incentives here. There’s assistance for seniors. There’s assistance for post-secondary education. It has increased capital gains exemptions for farmers to $1 million from $750,000.

It provides extra funding for the military.

“We live in a different world,” Aspin said. “We have to stand together with our allies. We are pulling our own weight.”

Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle, the NDP critic for mining and official languages, was visiting the Ring of Fire and was not available for comment.

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