By Curtis Galbraith

Nothing for Peace Region people in new federal budget says Warkentin

Mar 20, 2019 | 5:30 AM

The MP for Grande Prairie-Mackenzie is blasting the new federal budget.

Chris Warkentin says if this is an election budget, then the Liberals do not expect to win any seats in Alberta when the vote takes place in October.

“This is $41-billion that Albertans will be expected to pay back and there’s nothing in it for Albertans, certainly nothing in it for Peace Country residents. It is just a broken-promise budget, one that will leave every Canadian paying higher taxes and poorer.”

The Conservatives are calling the new spending plan a coverup brought on by the SNC Lavalin scandal.

Warkentin charges the Prime Minister is trying to divert attention from that scandal with this budget.

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“By spending $41-billion in Canadian’s tax dollars to cover up this scandal. This is probably the most expensive cover-up in Canadian history. Certainly, I’ve never seen anything like it. I think the vast majority of Canadians have never seen anything like it.”

Opposition MPs drowned out the budget speech yesterday by banging on their desks and shouting demands that former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould get another chance to speak again about the SNC Lavalin scandal.

Warkentin believes there is more to this affair that we don’t know about.

“Of course, Jody Wilson-Raybould has testified that she is being gagged and unable to testify about her full testimony because the Prime Minister refuses to allow her to continue to testify. The Prime Minister canceled the only  public investigation into this whole ordeal.”

Warkentin says the $41-billion he is referring to is new spending in this budget. The budget includes $1.7 billion over five years for workers to learn or upgrade skills, creating a new Canadian Drug Agency which is to be the start of a new pharmacare program, money to subsidize drug costs for rare diseases, making student loan interest rates equal to the prime lending rate, and $3.9-billion for farmers in supply managed industries that may be hurt by new trade deals with Europe and Pacific Rim countries.