CP
Now that federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has delivered Canada's 2012 federal budget, opposition parties and key stakeholders are beginning to respond to the Conservative government's spending plans.
Here are responses from some of the notables.
Budget 2012 Reaction
BUDGET REACTIONS(01 of17)
Here are some responses from notable politicians and key players to Canada's 2012 federal budget.(CP photo) (credit:CP)
THOMAS MULCAIR(02 of17)
"Stephen Harper promised jobs and growth, but delivered reckless cuts. There's nothing on jobs, nothing on inequality and nothing to strengthen our front-line health services. " NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said in a statement. "Mr. Harper is once again looking out for his friends, while he ignores growing inequality."Muclair added: "The Conservatives ran an entire election campaign without saying a word to Canadians about their plans to cut OAS or health transfers. Clearly Mr. Harper is not a man of his word."(CP photo) (credit:CP)
BOB RAE - LPC(03 of17)
Bob Rae, interim leader of the federal Liberals, "said the budget lacks vision, dishonestly plays a 'shell game' on how funds will be spent, and harms the federation by off-loading costs to the provinces," reports Postmedia News."This is a very mean-minded, small-minded budget," Postmedia quoted Rae as saying.(CP photo) (credit:CP)
DANIEL PAILLÉ - BQ(04 of17)
Leader of the Bloc Quebecois Daniel Paillé echoed many points by Quebec politicians about the budget's potential to harm federal-provincial relations. Paille described the budget as "disappointing," according to the Journal de Montreal.(CP photo) (credit:CP)
ELIZABETH MAY - GREEN PARTY(05 of17)
Green Party leader Elizabeth May said the Conservatives had followed through on threats to erode environmental protection by killing the voice of its sustainable development advisory council, the National Round Table on Environment and Economy, and threats to sanction environmental groups if they engaged in advocacy."First, it gagged the scientists, now it is killing the advisory insititue the NRTEE, and has sent a warning shot to silence on-government conservation groups. Without measurements, science or critics who can speak without fear, Harper's agenda heads towards steam-rolling massive fossil fuel expansion," she said in a press release.(CP photo) (credit:CP)
CBC(06 of17)
Official CBC statement:CBC/Radio-Canada has learned that its annual parliamentary appropriation will be reduced by $115 million over three years as part of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP), as set out today in Federal Budget 2012.CBC/Radio-Canada will review its approach for dealing with this reduction in a way that doesn't overly compromise its strategy for the future, 2015: Everyone, Every way. The measures that CBC/Radio-Canada intends to take over the next three years will be set out in greater detail for our employees and the Canadians we serve as soon as possible.
SUSAN ENG - CARP(07 of17)
Susan Eng, vice president, advocacy for the Canadian Association of Retired Persons:"I don't think CARP members and older workers are going to be very happy with the changes announced today [OAS eligibility raised to 67 years]. ... Even when they talk about helping the next generation, they failed to see how cutting the OAS is going to help the next generation. Maybe it would be better for the next generation to get jobs for our young people instead."
PATTY DUCHARME - PSAC(08 of17)
"They keep cutting and cutting and obviously it is going to hurt services and it's going to hurt front-line services," says Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Cuts at departments such as Health Canada would have a direct impact on Canadians, she said. "We would certainly like to see what the cuts are going to actually look like, what the jobs are that are actually going to be cut, what programs are going to be cut. We would have liked to see a discussion about this beforehand," she said. But instead, Ducharme noted, the Tories had brought in Deloitte and Touche at $90,000 a day to advise them on how to carve off services that will then go off to the service sector. (credit:Huffington Post Canada)
DR. JOHN HAGGIE - CMA(09 of17)
Dr. John Haggie, president of the Canadian Medical Association, says the changes to the OAS target patients which are a particularly vulnerable group."I have patients in Newfoundland who have a choice between eating, heating and pills, medication, and they are skipping because of the cuts. This is not going to help that," he said. "It's acerbated by the fact that there isn't a national pharmaceutical strategy to deal with drug supply for the patient in Canada who need it." Haggie said the provinces would end up having to pick up the tab for people who are ill as a result of not being able to take the medication that they need. "I hope that is an unintended consequence," he added.
SHANNON LITZENBERGER - CAC(10 of17)
Shannon Litzenberger, dance artist and spokeswoman for the Canadian Arts Coalition:"We are very encouraged to see the Canadian Arts Coalition's key recommendation reflected in this budget. Heritage Minister James Moore has been a strong advocate for the cultural sector and this budget is an affirmation of his efforts. The preservation of investment in the Canada Council for the Arts will ensure that artists can continue making meaningful contributions to Canada, for the benefit of our citizens, our communities, and our economy".
GREGORY THOMAS - CTF(11 of17)
"It's shocking that in the Conservative government, MPs refused to lead by example to rein in their own pensions. We think that the government has missed a huge opportunity to get spending under control and balance budget (earlier)," said, Gregory Thomas, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. (credit:Huffington Post)
CATHERINE SWIFT - CFIB(12 of17)
Catherine Swift, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says: "There are some good small business measures, things like EI, the beginning of the underfunded government and MP pension which is long overdue, there were very timid steps on reining in expenses, I think they should have gone further but at least they are keeping things on track in terms of eliminating and reducing debt." "EI was our number one (priority), both the extension of the hiring credit and the capping of future rate increases," she says. "In some of the past years, we've faced potential rate increases 15 cents increase on employee side, which means 21 cents on the employers. So having that capped at five for employees and seven for employers that lends some certainty going forward because EI is a significant issue for small businesses." (credit:Huffington Post)
PAUL DAVIDSON - AUCC(13 of17)
"There are a number of really smart and strategic investments in the budget particularly in the area of innovation and research," says Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada "I'm thinking particularly of the investments in the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the continued investments for the granting councils, the continued internships for graduate students to work in the private sector, these are all really positive innovations that universities welcome," he said. (credit:Huffington Post Canada)
BERRY VRBANOVIC - FCM(14 of17)
"We are certainly pleased to see the government recommit towards long-term infrastructure plan and there will be dollars available for that program once the fund comes to an end in March 2014," says Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities."The other good news that when they are cutting in a number of other areas there was $150 million in new funding available for community infrastructure," he adds.But there was a sad note, Vrbanovic said."We think there was a miss opportunity that there was no new incentives to bring in more rental units. This is something that we know is necessary, particularly at a time when Canadians are being encouraged to reduce their debt levels...if there isn't good available rental stock available for them that is a problem, and we were disappointed tat that wasn't here." (credit:Huffington Post)
GARY CORBETT - PIPSC(15 of17)
Gary Corbett, president and chief executive officer of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, says he would have liked to be invited to the lock-up. "We weren't and we were kept out, still unsure why, maybe we said something that we weren't supposed to, " he says. Corbett said the union was prepared to move forward with the government on reforms to public service pensions but he questioned where the 19,200 federal job losses would come. "Will it affect the public? I suspect when there are 19,200 federal workers that are gone that will impact the services." He said the ripple affect of the federal job cuts meant a direct impact on the economy. "This is a prosperity budget starting with the reaction that there are 40,000 job losses? There will be a lot of hurt going around." (credit:Huffington Post)
GARTH WHYTE - CRFA(16 of17)
Getting rid of the penny isn't all good news, says Garth Whyte, , president and CEO of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. "What sounds like a simple thing and a good thing, really the other penny is going to drop. And the reason it is going to drop is because we hire 20 per cent youth to work in our industry and (we) are the number one first-time hire in our industry, and we are going to ask them to round up or round down?" Whyte suggested young Canadians are unable to do math and getting rid of the penny would complicate matters. "Many can and many won't be able to do it," he said. "When it is non-cash, it is as is priced. And if it cash, they will have to round up or round down again. And then there are pricing issues." "When you do 18 million transactions a day, there will be difficulty with training, there will be difficulty with cash register issues and difficulty with pricing," Whyte said.
ROXANNE DUBOIS - CFS(17 of17)
Roxanne Dubois, national chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, says: "As students we see no relief in this budget, we are facing some of the higher tuition fees, highest debt that we have ever in this country and unfortunately there is nothing to help us out with that." (credit:Huffington Post)