March 08, 2010
New Democrats Work to Improve Budget
Last week’s budget squanders billions on handouts for banks and oil companies – but does nothing for the real victims of the recession. Nothing for seniors living in poverty. Nothing for half a million hard-working Canadians set to exhaust their Employment Insurance benefits with no job to go to.
New Democrats cannot support this budget as-written. So we have moved an amendment to shelve those corporate handouts and use the savings for better priorities:
– creating family-supporting jobs;
– helping the seniors who built this country; and
– building a clean-energy future.
On Tuesday, March 16th all members of parliament will be given the opportunity to vote in support of our amendment and stand up for the people that elected them.
We’re doing our best to make this Parliament work for you.
The Motion as amended would read: (NDP amendments in bold)
“This House shall not support the government’s budgetary policy unless the government eliminates the tax benefits given to large banks, big corporations and the oil industry, thereby enabling it to compensate Quebec for harmonizing the QST and GST, enhance the Employment Insurance Plan, strengthen the Guaranteed Income Supplement, allow for the full protection of pensions in all cases of corporate insolvency, work for increases to the CPP and QPP and establish a credible assistance plan for the forestry industry, and unless the government abandons the idea of establishing a national securities commission, the implementation of the Harmonised Sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia, and eliminates all references in the Budget designed to weaken our national commitment to a clean energy future“
