NDP Leader Earle McCurdy says the passing of Budget 2016 is another low point in what has been a spectacularly embarrassing month for the governing Liberals.
“For the most month, we’ve watched this government’s erratic performance as they lurch from one embarrassment to another,” McCurdy said. “The uproar over Ed Martin’s departure from Nalcor served to distract the public from the reality of this appalling budget – a budget that is in essence an indefensible attack on average Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”
McCurdy says that although government made minor changes to the biggest lightning rod in the original document, the Liberal Levy, the budget will still cause financial problems for people in the province. Those problems start Thursday when the price of gasoline will increase by 16.5 cents a litre, and will continue as people pay more in increased income tax and fees on everything from vehicle registration to camping.
In addition, more than half of the province’s libraries will be closed and people will be forced to pay an additional 10 per cent sales tax on books.
“There is no vision in this budget, no hope for the people of the province, no plan, no diversification, not even a hint that we are working to a brighter future,” McCurdy said.
“I have no idea of how any Liberal MHA, particularly the ones from rural districts, can go back and face the people that elected them. They should all be deeply embarrassed by their actions today.”
NDP MHAs Gerry Rogers (St. John’s Centre) and Lorraine Michael (St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi) both voted against every budget measure.
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For information, e-mail news@nl.ndp.ca.