Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have tabled their 2018 budget in the House of Commons, the third by Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Of note, the budget sees $1.2 billion dollars put towards a new Employment Insurance Parental Sharing Benefit that will offer five extra weeks of E.I benefits when both parents share the leave.
David Yurdiga is the Conservative M.P for Fort McMurray – Cold Lake, he says he sees missing areas of focus.
“There’s really nothing for Albertans when it comes to our economy. We see nothing for agriculture, nothing for forestry, nothing for oil and gas. Nothing has been addressed with NAFTA. obviously, that’s important to all Canadians. There’s nothing to address that issue.”
The Liberals also see 5 billion dollars going towards Indigenous affairs, in support of infrastructure, child welfare and health care among others.
“There’s a lot of issues on First Nations when it comes to housing and water.” says Yurdiga. “I think we have to address those issues.”
Equality has been a focus for the government. For the 1.2 million federally employed women, that could mean a pay increase. Trudeau’s Liberals hope to get to work on a proactive pay equity regime that could see the wage gap of 22 cents between male and female federal workers disappear.
The budget does not give a timeline on how it will be balanced, and projects an $18.1 billion deficit for 2018-2019.