In Thursday’s Federal budget, everything sounded good. Chrystia Freeland, the Minister of Finance managed to say all the right things. The initiatives that Jagmeet Singh saw wish list of the New Democrat Party present themselves front and centre.
The first item on the agenda was mobilizing the government to make affordable housing available to Canadians. A total of $10.2 billion has been allocated in the budget. Just over $9 billion will go to building affordable housing. That will build 100,000 homes over the next five years. The other item on the agenda is creating a first time home owner savings plan that will allow individuals to set aside $8,000 annually to a maximum total of $40,000. Sounds wonderful until you realize that the average price of a home in Canada is $716,000. And to afford such a home, buyers need a 20% down payment of $178,900 – far above the $40,000 the government will help you save in the next five years. Of course in Fort Frances where the average price of a home is $275,000 that only requires a 10% down payment. District first time home owners sill would need to save for four years and hope that house prices do not keep growing at existing levels. It all sounds good until you do the math.
The other biggy in the budget was the promise of dental care. The budget promised $5.3 billion towards dental care for low-income families. Since no information is available on how one might apply and who would be eligible to receive this dental care, Canadians will have to wait a couple of years to get the details to see if they are eligible. Until we see the details, it is all hot air.
We knew the Federal government was going to spend more on the military with its announcement of the purchase of F-35 fighter aircraft. The extra $8 billion earmarked for the military this year will not create a larger armed force. It will not add new money to purchase the most amazing military equipment. Even if it did, Canada’s procurement policy would cause delays of a decade to make a decision. It will not even cover the costs of repairs to existing military equipment, facilities or infrastructure.
Chrystia Freeland said the budget was set for the uncertainty of our times. The huge surplus of funds created by winding down the Covid emergency funding gave the government the opportunity to spread funding across all sectors of Canadian life while not directly tackling the real problems facing Canada and the world. Everyone might see some funding for their favourite cause, but the results will be minimal.
