Ottawa, ON – Yesterday, the Liberals tabled their fourth budget since they formed government in 2015. While Conservatives will be reviewing the budget carefully, one thing is clear: Budget 2019 is full of desperate, election-year promises to distract Canadians from the Liberals’ SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal.

“Justin Trudeau promised he would only run small deficits of $10 billion a year and that he would balance the budget by 2019,” said Bev Shipley, Member of Parliament for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. “Instead this year’s deficit is almost $20 billion, the Liberals have no plan to balance the budget and the Prime Minister’s reckless spending today will mean higher taxes in the future.” In five short years, the federal debt is on track to be over $705 billion. This means huge interest payments that future generations will be responsible for paying. Parents wouldn’t leave their children with unpaid bills, so why is the Prime Minister burdening our children and grandchildren?

Budget 2019 is over 460 pages long, and Bev Shipley will continue to review it further. However, he was disappointed to see that the Trudeau Liberals are pushing forward with their Carbon Tax, which will come into effect on April 1st. He said, “This is, quite frankly, a money grab for the Trudeau government and will cost Canadian taxpayers, in many cases, thousands of dollars a year. It puts our Canadian farmers and other industries at a significant disadvantage. Worse still, the Liberals’ own documents indicate that they plan to keep raising the Carbon Tax.”

What is even more concerning to MP Bev Shipley though is how the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Liberal Members of Parliament are trying to use their $41 billion of new spending to direct the focus away from their actions related to the SNC-Lavalin scandal. However, this is all money that taxpayers will be on the hook for after the election and will result in higher taxes. “Justin Trudeau will not lift the gag order on former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould. His Liberal Members of the Justice Committee abruptly shut down any further investigation into the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal at committee, and the Liberal government blocked our efforts in the House of Commons to allow Ms. Wilson-Raybould to speak. Canadians will not be fooled by the Liberals’ efforts to distract them with their own money.”

“As Conservatives, we will continue to support our small businesses and agricultural producers because we understand that they are the backbone of our economy,” said MP Shipley. “A Conservative government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Andrew Scheer, will also bring back fiscal responsibility, and will protect our Canadian democracy.”

For more information or media inquiries:

Sarah Brown
Office of Bev Shipley, MP
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex
Office: 613-947-4581
Cell: 613-608-9832
Email: [email protected]