Tories and Bloc Oppose Federal Budget, NDP Says Too Soon to Say

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre (L) and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick; Adrian Wyld

The leaders of the Conservative, Bloc Québécois, and Green parties have indicated they will vote against the Liberals’ latest budget, while the NDP leader said he would discuss the budget with the prime minister before deciding.

“One in four kids cannot afford food, and now he’s adding $40 billion of new debt and new spending. That’s $2,400 of new inflation [for each Canadian],” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the House of Commons following the tabling of the budget.

“That is why Conservatives will vote against this wasteful inflationary budget that is like a pyromaniac spraying gas on the inflationary fire that [the prime minister] lit.”

The 2024 budget, tabled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland on April 16, involves $53 billion in new spending over the next five years and includes $8.5 billion in new spending on housing. The budget projects the government will post a $40 billion deficit this fiscal year.

The $535 billion budget also increases the capital gains inclusion rate, or tax rate, to collect an extra $20 billion over the next five years, which Ms. Freeland said will impact the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Canadians.

Mr. Poilievre raised the issue of increasing government deficits and the Liberal government’s lack of focus on balancing the budget. “This is the ninth deficitary budget since the prime minister promised that the books would balance themselves, and everything he’s spending on has gotten worse,” he said, highlighting the rising cost of housing and food.

“After nine deficits, ... the government is rich and the people are poor. And today, they’re doing the same thing over again, with $40 billion worth of inflationary deficit.”

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters his party has been saying for a month that it will not support the federal budget due to its “intrusions” in Quebec’s jurisdiction. He said the budget also continues to support the oil and gas industry and provides insufficient support for seniors, both of which rule out the party giving its support.

“None of our conditions have been respected, so we of course will vote against it,” he said.

Mr. Blanchet said he is not concerned that the Liberal government might fall due to a lack of House support for the budget, claiming that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will eventually vote in favour of it. “We already know what will happen. Mr. Singh will come here and find an explanation for his keeping supporting the Liberals,” he said.

NDP Remain Mum on Support

Speaking to reporters following the budget announcement, Mr. Singh said he had concerns about insufficient support for people living with disabilities and indigenous groups, the cutting of 5,000 federal employee positions, and the absence of a wealth tax on excess profits of the oil and gas, telecommunications, and grocery companies that make “record profits.”

Mr. Singh told reporters it was too early to tell whether his party would vote in favour of the budget. “There’s things in the budget that we fought for that are there. There’s problems that we have. I want to hear what the plan is for the prime minister to address my concerns,” he said.

The supply and confidence agreement between the Liberals and New Democrats, which keeps the Liberals in power until 2025 in exchange for delivering on NDP priorities like pharmacare and dental care, a lack of support from Mr. Singh’s party could result in a loss of confidence of the House of Commons and an early election.

During the previous budget announcement in 2023, Mr. Singh had immediately said his party would vote in favour of commitments that he had “forced this government to deliver.”

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also said her party would vote against the 2024 budget, as it had insufficient support for social housing and an inadequate planned disability benefit of $200 a year.

“The budget falls far short of our hopes,” she said. “It’s not meeting the moment. We need transformative, dramatic changes to our society to be able to afford the things we need.”