“Intergenerational equity” budget not a consensus budget

The future of the budget – and of the Liberal government – is in the hands of the NDP, and as of this writing, the party hasn’t said whether they will support the budget.

Compton-stanstead MP and Minister of National Revenue, Marie-claude Bibeau, has called the $535-billion budget released Tuesday an “intergenerational equity” budget, vaunting proposed new protections for renters and first-time homebuyers.

“There are a lot of Gen-xers in our caucus, and we see the worries our [Gen Z] kids have,” she said in a postbudget chat with The Record. “Young people don’t dream of buying their own home anymore, because property isn’t accessible.”

The budget contains provisions to provide federal loans to support provincial and municipal housing projects. For former renters making the transition to owning their own home, programs laid out in the budget will make it easier for renters with a stable payment history to qualify for a mortgage, Bibeau explained. Mortgage insurance rules will be amended to allow 30-year mortgage amortizations for first-time homebuyers buying newly built homes, and homebuyers will be able to withdraw an additional $25,000 from their RRSPS to put toward a down payment on a house. To incentivize new builds, GST will no longer be applied to construction materials.

For renters, a $1.5-billion Renters’ Assistance Fund will be established; some of the funds will be disbursed to community organizations providing legal support and information for renters; some will be used to establish a charter of rights for renters and set up “something like a rent registry” – a public database allowing renters to see what the previous tenant paid for their house or apartment, a longstanding demand of renters’ rights groups.

The budget will also allow for the establishment of a $500-million fund for youth mental health programming, an echo of an as-yet-unfulfilled 2021 election promise. Bibeau said local mental health promotion organizations such as Mental Health Estrie would be able to apply for funding through this program to improve their own programming for youth.

On the health front, Bibeau said disability benefit recipients will get an extra $200 per month, and the federal dental care plan will continue its gradual rollout and be extended to seniors 65 and older, children under 18 and disability benefit recipients, and the first phase of a national pharmacare plan will be rolled out, making contraceptives and certain diabetes medications free to people covered by their respective provincial health plans.

While Bibeau was hesitant to speak about the potential ramifications of specific budget measures for her riding, she cited the doubling of the volunteer firefighter tax credit (from $3,000 to $6,000) and the renewal of support for community media through the Local Journalism Initiative as budget measures to help rural areas.

The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois have both said they intend to vote against the budget – Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has called the budget “wasteful and inflationary” and Bloc leader Yvesfrançois Blanchet has accused the Liberals of interfering in provincial jurisdiction. “The Bloc Québécois denounces, among other things, the imposition on Quebec and municipalities of federal priorities in terms of housing, the imposition of infrastructure conditions under threat of depriving the provinces of funds, the financing of federal drug insurance and federal dental care,” the party said in a statement.

The future of the budget – and of the Liberal government – is in the hands of the NDP, and as of this writing, the party hasn’t said whether they will support the budget. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has called investments in pharmacare and dental care “a glimpse of what an NDP government can do” but attacked the Liberals’ overall plan: “Justin Trudeau has had nine budgets to make life better and more affordable, but Canadians are still falling farther behind.”

A “no” vote from the NDP would bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an election.

That prospect doesn’t seem to ruffle Bibeau. “We’ve respected our engagements, and we are pretty confident that we have a peoplecentred budget,” she said. “I figure the next election will come in 2025.