A provincial budget will come out later this month and the NDP opposition has some things that they want to see in it.
Shannon Phillips, the NDP’s finance critic, says they want to see action done on cost of living and affordability.
“The first thing the UCP did when the came in with their budget in 2019, is they introduced this sneaky new way to increase your personal income tax. So your personal income tax loses ground to inflation every year. Now maybe in 2019 that wasn’t such a big deal when inflation is low, but we have all been hearing about severe inflation is now.”
Phillips was on the Trending 55 Hot Seat and says they also want to see rising car insurance costs and utility bills being addressed.
“People are paying 30-40% more, they’re opening their renewals and seeing several hundred dollars more per year that they have to pay to insure their vehicle. If you’re not on a fixed rate, you’ve just seen your electricity costs go completely bonkers in the last couple of months and that’s putting the squeeze on people.”
The province will deliver their budget on February 24.
We talked to Phillips on the Trending 55 Hot Seat, you can hear that full discussion below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
