Banff-Airdrie Member of Parliament (MP) Blake Richards shares his thoughts on the recent release of the federal budget. 

“I think it can be summed up in one word, which is disappointing. I think it’s the exact opposite of what we needed to see in a federal budget. What we needed to see was a responsible fiscal approach, not a whole bunch of massive new spending, but we got, instead, $56 billion in new spending.” 

Richards says a plan was needed to help Canadians deal with inflation. 

“Whether that be tax cuts, whether that be measures that the government can take to try to make life a little bit more affordable like dealing with the massively inflated price of housing. We didn't see any measures that would do any of those things. It's really the exact opposite of what we needed to see in a federal budget.” 

When asked about the most surprising item on the budget, Richards said nothing really caught him by surprise, but if he had to say something, it would be how much was spent. 

“The biggest surprise was more in the amount of spending there was. I can't really point to any major things that will improve the lives of Canadians, there's a lot of spending in there. I just wonder how the heck they found a way to spend so much money, but do so little.” 

A written report from Richards states “Conservatives want a Canada where hard-working people don't just get by, they get ahead. That's why my Conservative colleagues and I demanded the budget fulfill three main objectives: a plan to control inflation, tax breaks for Canadians, and real action to increase housing supply and affordability. This budget fell through in all three of these areas and failed Canadians.” 

Richards did find some things within the budget that he was happy to see. 

“One thing that stuck out to me was, you know, I've been pushing to see some improvements in trail networks in our area. There was some funding in there for the Trans Canada Trail Network.” 

Richards was also happy to see some allusion towards some of the labour challenges that many businesses have seen, particularly in the hospitality and tourism industries. 

If the Conservatives were in power, Richards says they would have addressed key items. 

“The first thing is we would have shown fiscal responsibility that we were expecting to see. I think you would have seen efforts to make life a little bit more affordable for Canadians.” 

Richards says the Conservatives would have looked at cutting taxes to leave more money in Canadian's pockets and look at ways to help the economy grow. 

“The government just increased the carbon tax, why would you do that? Why would you add more crippling tax on top of people when they're already struggling to afford to fill up their tanks, or heat their homes? We would have frozen the carbon tax so people wouldn't be stuck with these extra taxes.” 

In the same Richards written statement, he stated Conservatives will continue to rise in the House of Commons to fight for Canadians who have been left worse-off by this budget. 

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