Federal budget garners mixed local reaction

SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH APPLAUDED; HARDER DISAPPOINTED WITH DEFICIT

In Lethbridge, initial response to the federal government’s new budget was mixed.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s speech included support for several Alberta issues — funds to fight the opioid crisis, to provide clean water as well as better child and family services for First Nations communities, and programs to conserve land, waterways and wildlife.

The government also promised legislation to ensure women working for federal agencies have pay equity, and provided funds to promote girls’ and women’s participation in sports.

At the University of Lethbridge, officials responded warmly to increased support for scientific researchers.

“Because we have failed to adequately support and recognize women, disabled, LGBTQ, Indigenous and racialized people in their research careers, we have lost tremendous knowledge and input,” said Claudia Malacrida, the U of L’s associate vice-president for research.

“I am pleased that this government has taken strong steps towards filling (those) gaps” which were identified in the nationwide Fundamental Science Review Panel recently.

One of nine scholars who served on that panel, Malacrida is a member of the governing council for the nation’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

“This budget offers a concrete pathway to begin redressing those gaps.”

Speaking from Ottawa, Lethbridge MP Rachael Harder focused on the figures.

“The bills on the backs of Canadians keep racking up,” she said after reviewing the budget. “This government continues to spend and spend.”

And where it previously expected a $6billion deficit, she said, the government is now planning an $18-billion deficit.

“That’s really disappointing,” she said. “Canadians will be paying more taxes, or they’ll be losing out on the services they have come to depend upon.”

The Conservative MP was particularly critical of a new $35-billion initiative to fund international trade. That money should go to businesses in Canada, she said, not to China.

Harder also cited the government’s plans for “passive income” taxation — widely criticized when it was proposed last year — as another strike against the family farm. In particular, she said, it penalizes longtime producers who have counted on those funds for their retirement.

“That will have a huge impact on farmers in our area.”

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