OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to put up procedural roadblocks and delays to prevent the Liberals’ budget bill from passing, unless they scrap proposed carbon tax increases and lay out a plan for a balanced budget.
Poilievre delivered his ultimatum Monday, with just three weeks left in the House of Commons sitting before a summer recess. Poilievre argued high interest rates and inflation are being driven by government debt, making it imperative that the government provide a plan to balance the budget.
“We will use all procedural tools at our disposal to block the budget from passing including 900 amendments, lengthy speeches, and other procedural tools that are in our toolkit,” he said.
Poilievre argued mortgages taken out in 2020 or 2021 at low interest rates could become major economic problems when their initial five-year terms renew.
“We could have people with million-dollar mortgages that are hit with three- and four-percentage point increases in their interest payment on those mortgages, that’s $30,000 or $40,000 a year, which could potentially lead to a meltdown in the mortgage market,” he said.
Poilievre, who has previously called for firing Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, said while the bank ultimately sets interest rates, the government could be doing more to help with better fiscal policy.
“They could help the Bank of Canada by getting rid of the deficit, bringing down inflation and interest rates,” he said. “This is already a crisis but it will become a massive financial crisis in the next several years if we do not bring the inflation and interest rates back under control.”
Bill C-47, the Budget Implementation Act, is currently at the report stage in the House of Commons and has the NDP’s support, which means when it comes to a vote it should pass.
The Liberals have passed some tax credits from the budget in other legislation, but if C-47 doesn’t pass a credit for tradespeople’s tools that the government promised won’t come into force. Additionally, steps to improve the air passengers’ bill of rights process, a home flipping tax, and steps for a broader dental plan will all be stalled until the legislation passes.
More to come …
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