OTTAWA – Cathy McLeod, Member of Parliament for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, isn’t surprised by the Liberal’s decision to abandon electoral reform, given their string of broken promises.
“Justin Trudeau has proven that he was willing to say anything to get elected. To him, an election promise is not something that needs to be kept after winning government,” said McLeod. “Canadians deserve better than a string of broken promises from their Prime Minister.”
On the campaign trail, Trudeau repeatedly insisted that a Liberal government would not create deficits larger than $10 billion and that the budget would be balanced by 2019.
“The reality is we are now headed for a culminated federal debt of $1 trillion in the next 15 years and $1.5 trillion by 2050,” stated McLeod. “Further, we heard that the tax break for middle-income earners would be revenue neutral, paid by hiking taxes on the wealthiest one per cent. We now know that this will cost all taxpayers $1.2 billion a year.”
They promised to take care of middle class families, but instead raised taxes by canceling tax credits for sports, arts and dance. They broke their promise to lower taxes for small businesses, lowered the contribution limits for the Tax Free Savings Accounts, and introduced a CPP tax hike.
“They pledged to maintain funding for the Canadian Armed Forces and then delayed $3.7 billion in planned defense purchases indefinitely,” said McLeod. “A promise to engage in a non-combat mission against ISIS now sees troops on the ground, and an open competition to replace the F-35 has turned into another sole source contract.”
“I won’t even begin to highlight how quickly they threw out their commitment to openness and transparency along with ethics and accountability,” stated McLeod. “Their proposed changes to ‘cash for access’ fundraising will not restore their credibility or decrease the influence of big donors on those at the top of the federal government.”
“Canadians are being betrayed on every front. This group is either totally incompetent or have merely reverted back to the old Liberal playbook, where they take care of themselves leaving Canadians to pay the bills,” concluded McLeod.