Dozens of government ministers fanned out across the country to sell the Conservative budget Friday, leaving few senior ministers in the House of Commons to answer opposition questions on a fiscal blueprint that includes a controversial scaling-back of Canada's old age pension program.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and many of his top ministers - including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Industry Minister Christian Paradis, National Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Transport Minister Denis Lebel - were not in the House of Commons to answer questions about the budget.
Instead, several Tory backbenchers moved up to fill the front benches with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird acting as the lead government spokesman for the day.
Most MPs traditionally leave Ottawa on Thursday nights to handle issues in their ridings on Fridays.
NDP finance critic and national caucus chair Peter Julian filled in for newly elected leader Thomas Mulcair, who was absent, to lead the party's attack on the federal budget in the Commons.
"Conservatives promised to create jobs and, instead, slashed the vital services that Canadian families rely on, services such as old-age security and health care. They promised jobs and growth, but, instead, what they delivered is reckless cuts," Julian said.
Baird countered that the budget is "fair" and "balanced," and "focused on jobs, economic growth and the long-term prosperity of Canada."
Opposition debate on the budget was dominated by the NDP, which used all of its available time as the official Opposition, a move that was decried by the Liberals as "triumphalism."
Interim leader Bob Rae said "shutting out" the Liberals from the postbudget debate represents the NDP's leadership style under newly elected leader Thomas Mulcair.
"They're a sign of petulance and, frankly, a little bit of insecurity. I don't know what Mr. Mulcair or Mr. Julian has to fear from members of the Liberal party fully participating in a debate,"he told reporters.
NDP MP Robert Chisholm responded by saying the NDP was "serious" about its role as official Opposition.
"We're going to take every opportunity to respond to this government and tell them what Canadians are saying to us, to focus on ... the weaknesses to make suggestions about changes and continue to encourage them to work with us to try to fix the problem,"he said.
Earlier, the Conservatives defended the controversial pension reforms.
"Let me explain this to my friend (Rae) from Toronto-Centre," Baird told the Commons. "The (Old Age Security program) in the '70s there were seven workers supporting every retiree. By 2030 there will only be two workers to support every OAS. This is a fair and balanced reason."
The budget, released Thursday, proposed to eliminate a key federal advisory panel on business and environmental issues and maintained substantial tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.
It also earmarked $8 million to monitor environmental charity groups.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Sheila Dabu Nonato, Mike De Souza And Kyle Kipp
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and many of his top ministers - including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Industry Minister Christian Paradis, National Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Transport Minister Denis Lebel - were not in the House of Commons to answer questions about the budget.
Instead, several Tory backbenchers moved up to fill the front benches with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird acting as the lead government spokesman for the day.
Most MPs traditionally leave Ottawa on Thursday nights to handle issues in their ridings on Fridays.
NDP finance critic and national caucus chair Peter Julian filled in for newly elected leader Thomas Mulcair, who was absent, to lead the party's attack on the federal budget in the Commons.
"Conservatives promised to create jobs and, instead, slashed the vital services that Canadian families rely on, services such as old-age security and health care. They promised jobs and growth, but, instead, what they delivered is reckless cuts," Julian said.
Baird countered that the budget is "fair" and "balanced," and "focused on jobs, economic growth and the long-term prosperity of Canada."
Opposition debate on the budget was dominated by the NDP, which used all of its available time as the official Opposition, a move that was decried by the Liberals as "triumphalism."
Interim leader Bob Rae said "shutting out" the Liberals from the postbudget debate represents the NDP's leadership style under newly elected leader Thomas Mulcair.
"They're a sign of petulance and, frankly, a little bit of insecurity. I don't know what Mr. Mulcair or Mr. Julian has to fear from members of the Liberal party fully participating in a debate,"he told reporters.
NDP MP Robert Chisholm responded by saying the NDP was "serious" about its role as official Opposition.
"We're going to take every opportunity to respond to this government and tell them what Canadians are saying to us, to focus on ... the weaknesses to make suggestions about changes and continue to encourage them to work with us to try to fix the problem,"he said.
Earlier, the Conservatives defended the controversial pension reforms.
"Let me explain this to my friend (Rae) from Toronto-Centre," Baird told the Commons. "The (Old Age Security program) in the '70s there were seven workers supporting every retiree. By 2030 there will only be two workers to support every OAS. This is a fair and balanced reason."
The budget, released Thursday, proposed to eliminate a key federal advisory panel on business and environmental issues and maintained substantial tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.
It also earmarked $8 million to monitor environmental charity groups.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Sheila Dabu Nonato, Mike De Souza And Kyle Kipp
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