THE federal NDP said on Monday that the 2021 federal budget shows that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to give a free ride to the ultra-rich and leaves everyday people behind. It said that the pandemic has left many Canadians unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. Over the course of the pandemic, inequalities have increased: with the ultra-rich becoming richer than ever while people needing help are still struggling to get by. The crisis has highlighted the many holes in our social safety net that need to be fixed to make life easier for Canadians.

“We’ve learned a lot about Justin Trudeau the last few years. He says pretty words, with no intention of acting on them,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. “The Liberals have been promising childcare for 28 years, pharmacare for 24 years, and they made election promises about a federal minimum wage. If they had any intention of doing it, it would already be done.”

This budget has no wealth tax, no excess profit tax, and consultation instead of action on tax havens reform. What the Liberals are proposing around student debt is a drop in a bucket when young people are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. And the Liberals continue to leave Canadians waiting on universal pharmacare – and they’ve already been waiting for 24 years, the NDP said..

“During the pandemic, Justin Trudeau offered Canadians the least help possible. The NDP had to force him to do better,” said Singh. “And today’s budget is no different: Justin Trudeau chooses to continue to give his rich friends a free ride, he chooses to continue to fail young people who are facing crushing debt, he chooses to continue to protect the profits of big pharmaceutical companies and for-profit long-term care providers, he chooses to continue to spend billions on a pipeline and fossil fuel subsidies, and he chooses not to do what is needed to fix the housing crisis and historic injustices faced by Indigenous people.”

Singh said the budget shows who Trudeau is choosing to pay for the pandemic recovery, and he’s telling the ultra-rich it won’t be them; it will be you. The NDP has the courage to make the ultra-rich and the pandemic profiteers pay their fair share to make sure we can deliver free medication for all, dental care and actually fix our long-term care sector. The NDP will cancel student debt for young people, will significantly invest in tackling the climate crisis and creating good paying jobs now and will stop making empty promises to Indigenous People and really invest in a National Housing Strategy by and for Indigenous People.

“If we want different results, we need to make different choices. Canadians should not have to keep settling for less. We know there’s more to do and we’ll keep fighting to make sure more people get more help faster,” said Singh. “The last year has proven that when Canadians send New Democrats to Ottawa, we get results. While Justin Trudeau continues to choose the ultra-rich, Jagmeet and New Democrats choose you.”