Liberal MPs hold budget consultation at KPU

Members were able to reach out to about 12 Canadians

Though the event was sparsely attended, a few local MPs visited Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey campus to hold consultations with Canadians on the 2016 federal budget.

Only a few people were in attendance, leaving most seats in the Fir 124 auditorium empty. With the exception of two Runner staff members and Alex McGowan, Vice President External for the Kwantlen Student Association, the majority of the audience appeared to be either KPU faculty or local citizens of Surrey.

Ken Hardie (Fleetwood – Port Kells), John Aldag (Cloverdale-Langley City) and Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey – Newton) came by to ask attendees what they want the federal government to spend money on. The meeting was first prefaced by a video recording of Bill Morneau, minister of finance, talking about the state of the economy and what their campaign promises were. Among them was $20-billion for transit developments.

“During the campaign we made some very clear commitments that we intend to uphold,” says Aldag. “So the Broadway line was one that we specifically committed to, we also committed $750-million to transit south of the Fraser specifically […]”

It has been well-reported that the Liberals will bring the budget into deficit, it has just been a question as to what degree. During the election, they said that they would dip into the red, but aim for balance by the next election. However, given the nature of the global economy, they might not even be able to fulfil that goal.

Many media pundits have speculated that the Liberals could make up for budget shortfalls by legalizing marijuana, as they have promised, but they haven’t assumed anything yet. “At this point, no dollars from legalization have been put into the budget, and part of it is that we’re still looking at the timeline, and what that tax regime would look like,” says Aldag.

Other subjects brought up were funding for ESL programs, medical, and tuition.

Alex McGowan told the MPs that he’d like to see the aboriginal students fund have its cap removed, as it has been set at two per cent by the previous Conservative government. He also told the MPs that he liked the Liberal promise for more money towards student loans, and wanted to make sure that it gets into the federal budget.

One member of the audience wanted to see Medical Service Program premiums reduced or eliminated, to which Hardie responded by saying that MSP was a provincial matter. “I’m not nitpicking, but this actually represents one of the complications of our federation because there’re so many things… Some of them are clear cut between what’s provincial and what’s federal, others are kinda blurry.”

At the very least, the Liberals appear to be delivering on their promise to create a more transparent government. Bill Morneau himself travelled to six cities last month to consult Canadians, Surrey being among them.

“The prime minister says the government must be open and engaged. That is the tone he has set,” Dan Lauzon, director of communications for the finance minister, said in an interview with CBC News.