MP Williams Calls Todays Budget “More spending, with little results”

The Federal Government handed down its new budget today with a plan that aims
to balance promises.
Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams says while there are some welcomed investments
recommended by the government in the military and in the housing sector, the government
is continuing its path of inflation-inducing spending with little investments and little results.
Williams says “The Federal Government should be investing in the power of the Canadian
economy through research into innovative technologies and utilizing Canada’s abundant
resources.
“Canada’s finances are at a precarious point,” states MP Ryan Williams. “We have seen the
price of food, groceries, and housing skyrocket from government over-spending. We have
the worst housing crisis in our lifetime and employers are having a harder time than ever
finding workers. It has never been more important for Canadian tax dollars to properly
invested into Canadians, not just spent driving up the cost of living.”
The budget released at 4pm Thursday contains a multitude of items. The following are
some the items presented and MP Williams’ comments.

• Our real GDP is a full 1.2 per cent above what it was pre-pandemic, however the
  deficit is set for $52.8 billion this year. Deficits are bad news for inflation and our
  economy as we see groceries, gas, and housing skyrocket out of reach of our citizens
  on fixed incomes. Our wages are buying less at the grocery store, gas pump and in
  the housing market. Our interest payments a year are approaching $40 billion, the
  cost just to pay our debt, and our total debt is close to $1.2 trillion. With 53 billion
  in new spending, over and above our debt payments, we are just adding inflationary
  fuel to the fire.
• Instead of inflationary fueling deficits, we need to be focused on increasing our
  country’s revenues or looking at spending cuts. It is good to see an investment into
  critical minerals so we can get ahead of mining lithium and other minerals that will
  contribute to the growing Electric Vehicle sector, but we should have a greater
  emphasis to ensuring we have Canadian car companies and sectors supported and
  born. Our farmers need support to produce more of the food that will be lost with the
  war in Ukraine, and we need workers to fill over 1 million unfilled positions in Canada
  including 3000 jobs in Bay of Quinte.

When it comes to military spending, the budget promises $8 Billion over 5 years. MP
Williams says “Although this investment in our military is a good start, it is
inadequate and long overdue. CFB Trenton plays a vital role in NATO and NORAD
operations yet is has been neglected for far too long.”

Spending $10 Billion in housing provides only at most 150,000 new housing units over 5 years

by the government and will continue to mask and not address the
problems. In Canada we need 1.8 million housing units today built predominantly by
home builders. In the Bay of Quinte, we are in need of 5,500 housing units
today. It is great to see the promise to ban foreign home buyers for two years,
which will be a big help, but government needs to ensure that we do more, as the
current Ontario government is doing, to ensure we are able to see double our
housing production by homebuilders to catch up, so we have affordable homes for
our people here in the region.

MP Williams says “I’m happy to see investment into homelessness, as this is a major
result of our housing crisis created under this government. The government has
committed more than $3 billion to address homelessness, and we need to continue
to invest in transitionary housing as well as shelters.”