The Federal government has released its 2019-2020 budget. There’s $22.9 billion in new spending and a projected deficit of $19.8 billion.

In a statement, Local Member of Parliament Blake Richards said the deficit is unacceptable.

“Despite promising to balance the budget by 2019, Trudeau is instead running a deficit of $19.8 billion in hopes that Canadians will forget about SNC Lavalin,” he said in the statement.

Some of the new federal spending includes support for first time home buyers and buyers with lower incomes.

The Liberals are bringing in a First-Time Home Buyer Incentive. The program would allow buyers who put down less than 20 per cent to finance part of their home purchase through a shared-equity mortgage. The money would have to be repaid when the home is sold.

The Home Buyers’ Plan will also see some changes to RRSP withdraws. First-time buyers will now be able to withdraw $35,000 without having to pay tax on it, that’s $10,000 more than the previous limit.

Included in the budget are also the first glimpses into a national pharmacare plan. The government is proposing the creation of a new department to manage the federal program within Health Canada. The Canadian Drug Agency would be responsible for deciding and managing which drugs would be covered under the program. $35 million dollars has been earmarked over the next 4 years to establish the department.

Richards said in his statement that he feels the incentives in the budget are distractions from issues that have been plaguing the federal Liberals in recent weeks.

“While the Liberals are pretending that the money they are spending on home buyers, seniors, and increased access to the internet will distract Canadians from Trudeau’s corruption - no one is fooled,” read the statement. “Life is not more affordable. The budget is not balanced and the debt is getting deeper .”

Richards said one of the glaring things he saw missing from the budget was pipelines.

“This Budget does nothing to address the uncertainty in the days ahead and it does nothing for Albertans,” he said. “The Liberals only mentioned oil and gas once in the 2019 Budget.”

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