NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says coming federal budget should ‘invest in people’

As Canadians brace for the 2023 federal budget to be revealed on March 28, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the new plan needs to “invest in people,” focusing on financial aid programs that soften the blow of inflation.

“There’s a number of things we want to see in terms of how we can invest in giving people a little bit of support in this difficult time to give them some help in the cost of living crisis that they’re dealing with,” he told CTV Your Morning on Friday.

“We do need to invest in people. What we’re proposing are targeted measures that will not contribute to inflation in any way. Economists have confirmed that.”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted that there will be new affordability measures that will “directly help Canadians,” but didn’t offer specifics on what kinds of targeted supports Canadians will see in the budget.

Singh is calling for Trudeau to make good on his commitment to expand the dental care program, which he said could save families at least $1,200 amidst higher costs of living.

After rolling out the first phase—allowing families earning less than $90,000 a year, to receive federal funding to help cover the cost of dental care for children aged 12 and under—Singh said the Liberals have to make good on their pledge to expand the system to those under the age of 18, seniors, and people living with disabilities. 

“That’s going to cover millions of people, make a difference in their lives, [and it will] save a lot of money,” he said.

Singh added that he also wants to see other measures that NDP fought for, expanded. This includes extending the one-time six-month doubling of the GST rebate to put “more money in peoples’ pockets.” 

He added that other budget priorities include finding affordable housing space and reforming employment insurance.

Suggesting ways the government can find the money for these kinds of measures, Singh suggested the Liberals end fossil fuel subsidies, which he said are costing the federal government billions of dollars.

“These are oil and gas companies that have made record profits – not just any old profits, but the highest profits they’ve ever made, in many of these companies, their entire existence, and they continue to receive billions of dollars from the federal government. That needs to end.”

But aside from pointing to the oil and gas sector, Singh also said his party feels larger measures have to be implemented to combat major corporations’ use of tax havens.

“There’s loopholes that exist right now that allow for many companies to have tax havens where they are stealing, basically, revenue from our federal government, from the government in general, that could go towards these programs,” he said. Singh believes the Canada Revenue Agency should widen its scope to ensure that tax shelters don’t allow big companies to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. https://www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-pushes-government-stop-letting-corporations-hide-money-offshore

“So let’s close these loopholes that allow for billions of dollars to be ending up off shore instead of being invested back in our country,” Singh said.