(Quebec) Canadian prime ministers say they are “concerned” by the latest federal budget. In a letter addressed to Justin Trudeau, they united their voices to ask Ottawa to “refrain from encroaching” on their field of expertise and demanded more collaboration.
The premiers say the latest federal budget will have “direct repercussions” on their own budgets. “Investments by the federal government should be complementary to those already made by the (provinces and territories), in sectors falling within their jurisdiction, in order to provide maximum benefits to Canadians,” we can read in a letter addressed to Justin Trudeau and signed by the President of the Council of the Federation and Premier of Nova Scotia, Tim Houston, on behalf of all his provincial and territorial counterparts.
The Trudeau government tabled a spending budget on Tuesday with an 8% increase in spending, no plan to return to budget balance and a deficit of 40 billion.
“The premiers of the provinces and territories are concerned that the costs of new federal programs, created without a long-term funding commitment, are ultimately assumed entirely by the provinces and territories, thus increasing the financial pressure on their taxpayers,” the letter says.
“The federal government must support the provinces and territories by taking into account their respective needs and responsibilities in areas such as infrastructure, housing, disaster mitigation and emergency response, as well as skills training », we add.
The letter asks the federal government to “refrain from encroaching” on their areas of jurisdiction, such as health, education and housing. “Every government should have the right to receive ongoing financial compensation representing its fair share. This includes provinces and territories which reserve the right to request unconditional federal funding,” it adds.
The government of François Legault has continued to denounce what it considers to be interference in its areas of jurisdiction when the federal government made its pre-budget announcements which mainly concerned housing.
The Coalition Avenir Québec insists that Ottawa is the architect of the housing crisis due to the excessive number of asylum seekers in its province.
In the letter, the premiers say they recognize the federal attention paid to the housing crisis. “However, the federal government must take into account the impacts resulting from population growth on the demand for housing, in particular by acting on the considerable number of asylum seekers in certain provinces and territories. »