NDP Leader Earle McCurdy says Budget 2016 digs an even deeper economic hole for the province.
“The Finance Minister said in her speech that her budget will be a major cause of the reductions in economic activity that will hit the province over the next few years,” said McCurdy. “Even more shameful, she seems to have gone out of her way to sock it to low- and middle-income families.”
The bad news will continue to unfold over the next weeks and months. Tomorrow we will learn specifics of many of the cuts, as offices are closed and people lose their jobs. In the fall, government has promised a fiscal update that will include even more drastic slashing. McCurdy says the attack on the province’s people is indefensible.
“With taxes up and fees for everything from ferries to camping hiked, the average family can expect to lose thousands of dollars a year,” says McCurdy.
“We’ve got increases in sales tax, gas tax, income tax, insurance tax, and every fee under the sun,” he said. “The Liberals have taken away fuel rebates, the HST rebate, parental benefits and student grants. The New Income Supplement will in no way come even close to helping seniors and working families deal with the cuts to household benefits – and the regressive Temporary Deficit Reduction Levy makes you pay a higher percentage of your income the lower your income is.
“This document has no vision, no plan, no innovation, no diversification, no growth and no hope for the future. This budget is exactly the wrong budget for our current economic reality.”
-30-
For information, e-mail news@nl.ndp.ca