Liberals table first federal budget
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government tabled its first federal budget on March 22.
Highlights of the budget include:
- investments in infrastructure that total more than $120 billion over the next decade;
- an immediate investment of $11.9 billion in public transit, water and wastewater systems, affordable housing, and in retrofits and repairs to protect existing projects from the effects of climate change;
- the Canada Child benefit, a tax-free targeted benefit for families beginning in July 2016;
- spending on youth for jobs and affordable post secondary education;
- investments in First Nations, Inuit Peoples, and the Métis Nation - totalling $8.4 billion over five years - in areas that include education, infrastructure, and skills training; and
- returning the age for collecting Old Age Security benefits to 65 from 67.
To finance the spending, the deficit is projected to be $29.4 billion this year and $29 billion the following year, before falling - with no surplus forecast before the next election.
The nation’s debt is expected to grow by $113 billion by 2020-21, but the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to stay mostly flat, at around 32 per cent.
For more detailed coverage and local reaction to the budget visit www.wellingtonadvertiser.com.
