Business, Students and Scheer React to Budget

Mar 19, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce likes parts of the new federal budget, but would like to see the government to get its spending under control.

General manager Dione Chambers says investments in forestry, tourism and the oil and gas sector, will help critical sectors of the North Okanagan’s economy.

The group also supports moves to remove barriers to alcohol being sold in other provinces.

“Another positive aspect of the budget is removal of the federal requirement that alcohol moving from one province to another be sold or consigned to a provincial liquor authority. And an external advisory committee on regulatory competitiveness will identify opportunities to streamline regulations,” says Chambers.

Chambers says they hope the advisory committee will consider the excise tax that is levied on distilleries but not other alcoholic products and creates an uneven playing field for distillers, particularly when competing with U.S. companies.

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The Chamber also sees positives in budget programs for first-time home purchasers, incentives for seniors to save for retirement and lower interest rates on student loans, but adds the government has to get its financial house in order, with $22.8 billion in new spending the next five years, and the debt expected to climb to $761 billion by 2023-24.

“We understand that it takes a considerable investment to meet the needs and wants of Canadians, including business, but a home with a poor foundation puts the occupants at risk and the same goes for a nation’s ability to function effectively if the financial foundation is fractured. We need the government to put its house in order,” says Chambers.

The BC Federation of Students likes that the feds are reducing the interest charged on student loans, to the prime rate, saving borrowers an average of $2,000 over the repayment period.

“Students are pleased that the government listened to their call, and has taken this important step towards mitigating student debt,” says Aran Armutlu, Chairperson of the BC Federation of Students (BCFS). “This announcement will not only help current and future students but also those who have completed their studies and are struggling to make loan payments.”

Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer of the Conservatives accuses Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “covering up his corruption under $41 billion of brand new spending paid for by tax hikes if he’s re-elected. It is the most expensive cover-up in the history of cover ups.”

Scheer says Canadians will not be distracted by Trudeau’s “cover-up deficits.”

“They demand answers on the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal and Conservatives will do everything we can to get them.”

by Corey Fischer