Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s proud of the budget introduced by the Trudeau government.
He says the document fulfills two of the pledges made by the minority Liberals to gain NDP support including the continued expansion of a national dental plan, and the continuation of an increase in the GST rebate for lower-income Canadians, to help cope with the cost of food.
The budget will also limit the interest charges levied by payday loan companies, promises new regulations to crack down on so-called “junk fees” tacked onto the price of goods and services, and change the Canada Labour Code to prohibit the use of replacement workers during a strike or lockout in federally-regulated sectors.
There will also be billions of dollars offered to stimulate the production of “green” energy.
The budget’s predictions on revenue are conservative, leading to a prediction of a 40-billion-dollar deficit in the coming year, ten billion more than originally forecast.