With the release of the federal government’s Fall Economic Statement, the government has made some commitments to help Canadians struggling with high inflation through key NDP proposals, but it is evident that more needs to be done to ease the burden on people’s pocketbooks.
“The Fall Economic Statement does have some measures New Democrats have been fighting for to help Canadians deal with rising costs, but I remain concerned about the impact a recession will have on people struggling to get by,” said Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing.
“I believe they finally did the right thing by listening to New Democrats and making Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans permanently interest-free. This will help students who are struggling with rising debt loads get a good education while cutting back on the money they owe once they get into the job market.”
Other measures Hughes was pleased to see as part of the Fall Economic Statement included some of the investments in affordable housing, including the doubling of the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit, and an anti-flipping tax to reduce housing speculation.
However, there were several missed opportunities that the Fall Economic Statement could have addressed.
“One thing that New Democrats have been pushing for years is to cut the GST from home heating,” said Hughes. “That’s an easy, concrete way to save people money on an essential service, especially moving into winter, and they ignored this common sense proposal. There’s also nothing in here to address greedflation and the increasing cost of food across the country.”
“We still need to read through some of the finer details to make sure this Fall Economic Statement is really in the best interests of Canadians, but so far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.”
Submit News Tip
