NEW SPENDING TOPS $100B
In their first full budget since COVID-19 devastated Canada's economy, the Liberals are promising $101 billion in new spending over three years on a national child care program and other stimulus to fuel the post-pandemic recovery.
Mayor Don Iveson is welcoming Ottawa's budget commitment to housing supports, but said it won't be enough to tackle homelessness.
In the federal budget introduced Monday by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, an additional $1.5 billion was earmarked to go toward the Rapid Housing Initiative in 2021-22, adding an estimated 4,500 new affordable units to Canada's housing supply.
Iveson said Monday the city is happy to see the cash, but he was disappointed the top-up is nowhere near the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' ask of $7 billion to end chronic homelessness by building 24,000 units.
“It will require some more investment with this, and partnership with provinces, so there is some more work to do, but it is movement in the right direction on the shared path. We had hoped we could go a little faster,” said Iveson, adding housing will provide huge savings and efficiencies for health, justice and law enforcement systems.
The budget will keep supports in place to help get small businesses through the third wave of COVID -19.
About a third of the $101 billion in new spending in the budget is the expansion of pandemic support programs for businesses and individuals hit by the pandemic.
Janet Riopel, president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, said businesses were still navigating an uncertain time.
“Hopefully the supports will help them hang on,” she said, adding that new programs, including the Canada Recovery Hiring Program and the Canada Technology Adoption Fund, will help businesses adapt.
Budget spending means Canada will fall further into debt, with a $154.7 billion deficit forecast for this year and a deficit over $50 billion forecasted in each of the next two years. Riopel acknowledged now was the time for emergency spending, but said she was disappointed to not see a credible plan to tackle the deficit.
The budget promises $30 billion over five years for new spending on a national child care program that would aim to offer $10-a-day child care.
Riopel said both housing and childcare initiatives were key to ensuring a shared economic recovery in which all Canadians can get back to work.
NDP Opposition critic Rakhi Pancholi said in a statement Monday the child care commitment was welcome news for Alberta families and women who have seen their employment drop dramatically during the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, in Alberta, the UCP government has moved in the opposite direction, ending the $25-per-day pilot program introduced by the NDP government, implementing significant cuts to the childcare sector and failing to provide adequate supports during the pandemic,” said Pancholi.
The federal plan for child care depends on provinces pitching in, but the Alberta government, in the statement released late Monday, criticized the program for not being flexible enough.
Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said the province agrees child care is “essential for our economic recovery ” and will help parents, especially women, enter or re-enter the workforce.
Toews said the government is “gravely disappointed” the federal government hasn't changed the rules on the fiscal stabilization program.
He welcomed federal investment in carbon capture and storage technology, and funding the U of A's artificial intelligence program and broadband connectivity.
The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association called the budget's commitment to affordable housing over seven years long-awaited good news, and noted the budget's one-time doubling of the Gas Tax Fund this year will help create jobs and repair needed infrastructure.
AUMA president Barry Morishita said in a statement he looked forward to hearing how the province might take advantage of the federal funds.
“These are sensible and targeted funding measures intended to help the members of our communities who have been hardest hit by the economic reality of the pandemic,” he said in the statement.