New Democrats support help for Canadians in budget, commit to fighting Liberal failures – NDP

OTTAWA ñ On Wednesday, Canadaís New Democrats supported the budget where they fought to deliver: free birth control for 9 million Canadians and diabetes medication for 3.7 million Canadians; a national program providing free meals at school for hungry kids; protection for renters from losing their affordable homes to speculators; funding to create a Red Dress Alert; help for young Canadians to access the mental health care they need with a new Youth Mental Health Fund. ìCanadians need a government that doesnít ignore the challenges theyíre facing in their daily lives,î said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. ìThatís why New Democrats fought tirelessly to lower cost for hardworking people. We know the Liberals wouldnít have taken action without us forcing them and that the Conservatives want to block free birth control, diabetes medication and affordable childcare. Thatís going to make life much harder for people. ìWhile weíve worked hard to get help for Canadians, there is still a lot of work to be done. An NDP government would do things very differently than the Liberals.î

The NDP deliberated about supporting the budget for over two weeks due to the Liberalsí failures for Canadians living with disabilities and Indigenous communities. Singh committed to holding the governmentís feet to the fire on the Canada Disability benefit, upholding Jordanís principle which guarantees care for Indigenous children, the massive gap in funding for infrastructure and housing for Indigenous communities. ìThere is so much more the federal government needs to do to uphold its obligations to Indigenous peoples,î said Singh. ìThis government is failing to honour Jordanís Principle almost 70 per cent of the time. This means Indigenous children are still being denied access to the care and services they deserveóitís unacceptable. Despite promising to repair the relationship with Indigenous peoples, this government is underfunding crucial infrastructure and suitable housing and Indigenous peoples are living with the consequences ñ a lack of clean drinking water and mouldy, overcrowded homes are jeopardizing peopleís health.